Fangs
by BKelly95
Summary: In an Alternate Universe, Miles Mayhem accidentally releases a powerful vampire from his prison. Twenty years later, MASK devises a plan to defeat this dangerous new enemy. Will they succeed?
1. The Night It Started

MASK: Fangs 

Chapter 1: The Night It Started

AN:Welcome to my new fic. This will be an AU story with supernatural themes for Halloween.  
As the title should indicate, this will be a vampire story. Yes, I am subscribing to the tenet of vampire lore that victims of vampires are due to become one themselves. In this story, this will include several notable characters. This is not a reflection on my opinions towards those characters, I just thought they'd be the interesting ones.  
The rating is for darker subject matter and religious content.  
And so, we begin.

Somewhere in Ireland, 1987...

"There it is." said Miles Mayhem as he piloted Switchblade towards an old castle in the mountains. "There's Riley Castle."

"What is it we're looking for again?" asked Cliff Dagger from the driver's seat of the Jackhammer.

"There's some kind of statuette in there which should prove quite valuable." said Mayhem.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked Sly Rax from the Jackhammer's passenger seat. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Every place with poor lighting and cracked masonry gives you the creeps." said Vanessa Warfield from the driver's seat of the Manta.

"No, this is different." said Rax. "I've got a very bad feeling about this. You know, one of those 'This could have serious repercussions' feelings?"

"I've gotta agree with him." said Floyd Malloy from the Manta's passenger seat. "This doesn't feel right."

Mayhem landed the Switchblade in front of the castle. Dagger and Warfield parked their vehicles next to it. All VENOM agents exited their vehicles.

"Now, we can get the statuette and get out as quickly as possible." said Mayhem.

----------

In a village not far away...

"What are you saying?" asked Matt Trakker.

"This statuette that Miles Mayhem and his men are seeking is much more than a valuable artifact." said the woman he was talking to. "I assume you're familiar with the concept of vampires?"

"You assume correctly." said Brad Turner.

"Riley Castle is the home to such a creature." said the woman. "The statuette is the source of the vampires' power. If it is disturbed, the vampires' leader will be seeking revenge. That might cause problems for us all."

"How do you know all this?" asked Hondo MacLean.

"A couple of centuries ago," continued the woman, "the vampire lord, a Celtic warrior known as Feargus Riley, began a rampage in the county we now call Limerick. A small army was assembled and defeated all but Riley himself. The descendants of this army keep a dedicated watch over his castle to prevent a recurrance. My late husband, Noel O'Grady, was one of those descendants."

"How many of these recurrances have they prevented?" asked Jacques LaFleur.

"There's one every couple of decades or so." said Mrs. O'Grady. "Some young lad or lass ventures into the castle."

"I'm willing to bet they emerge with fangs and no reflection." said Dusty Hayes.

"Aye." said Mrs. O'Grady. "Riley uses them to invade the local countryside and potentially conquer the world. The army of descendants have always managed vigilance in keeping these recurrances in check."

"Why hasn't this army tried to terminate Riley?" asked Matt.

"Riley Castle is strongly protected by the statuette's power." explained Mrs. O'Grady. "Anyone who ventures inside is almost certain to fall victim to him."

"Including VENOM." said Hondo. "And their equipment might be more than a match for the army of descendants."

"If this story is true, that's a rather good reason to stop them." said Matt.

"Then, I shall delay you no longer." said Mrs. O'Grady. "Go, and prevent your enemies from unleashing an unspeakable terror on this world."

"Let's go, guys." said Matt.

----------

"The statuette is supposed to be in this room up ahead." said Mayhem.

Dagger walked over to a torch mounted on the wall and touched it. Unfortunately, the mortar was very worn and the torch fell off the wall.

"Watch it!" yelled Rax.

"Quiet!" whispered Mayhem.

"Who are we going to wake? The rats?" asked Malloy.

"All of you, be quiet." said Warfield. "It's like I'm working with a preschool class."

"Now, come with me." said Mayhem.

The group entered the room. The statuette was on a pedestal across the wooden floor from the entrance to the room. The statuette was a griffin with its wings spread and its left front paw raised.

"There it is." said Mayhem. He walked over to pick it up.

"This is a pretty big room for just a statuette." said Warfield.

"What's your point?" asked Rax.

"Does this room look like it's used for anything else than housing the statuette?" asked Warfield.

"Not really." said Malloy.

"And why is the floor made of wood?" asked Rax. "The rest of the floors we saw were stone."

Warfield quickly put two and two together and stepped back into the entrance.

"Here we go." said Mayhem. He grabbed the statuette and lifted it from the pedestal.

The wooden floor split along the center and opened into the room below. Rax and Malloy tried to run for the entrance, but the floor opened too quickly. Within seconds, Mayhem, Dagger, Rax, Malloy, and the statuette were dumped into the lower room.

Warfield had seen the entire thing from the room entrance. "Great, now I have to get you out of there." she groaned.

She walked back down the hallway to the stairs to the lower level.

"Now, let's see if I can figure out this place without a map." she said.

She turned a corner, then froze in fright.

----------

"Mayhem's out of his mind this time." said Matt from behind the wheel of the Thunder Hawk.

"Matt, don't tell me you're buying into that lady's story." said Hondo from the driver's seat of the Hurricane. "We're talking about the potential theft of one of her country's artifacts and she's talking about the bogeyman."

"Don't dismiss the tale just yet." said Brad from the Condor. "We've seen stranger things."

"Yeah, but most of that was a show put on by VENOM." said Dusty from the Thunder Hawk's passenger seat. "This gal was talking about vampires inhabiting the castle."

"I'm just saying it's better to be safe than sorry." said Matt. "Besides, this would be the perfect opportunity to apprehend Mayhem."

The motorcycle and two cars parked in front of the castle, not far from the VENOM vehicles.

"Looks like they found the place." said Brad.

"Let's go in there." said Matt.

The agents entered the main entryway, then looked around.

"Look at the size of this place." said Jacques. "How do you want us to search, Matt?"

"I'll see if there's a lower level." said Matt. "Brad and Hondo, search upstairs. Jacques and Dusty, search on this level. We'll meet back here in an hour. Go."

The agents split up to search.

----------

Mayhem furiously tried to rouse Dagger. "Wake up, you idiot!" he growled.

"Un...what happened?" asked Dagger as he regained conciousness.

"Gravity." said Malloy.

"Where's the statuette?" asked Mayhem.

"Here." said Rax as he picked up the two halves of the now broken statuette. The inside was wood. "It's just a wooden carving coated with gold! We would have been better off knocking over a jewelry store!"

"Where's Warfield?" asked Mayhem.

"I think she managed to avoid falling for the trap." said Malloy. "She's probably looking for a way to get us out of here."

"Knowing her, she's probably cutting her losses and ditching us." said Rax.

"We have to get out of here before MASK shows up." said Mayhem.

Dagger walked over to the lone door in the wall and tried to open it. "Great, it's locked!" he said.

"Stand back." said Mayhem. After Dagger stepped out of the way, Mayhem called "Viper, fire!"

A shot of red acid fired from his mask and hit the lock, dissolving it. Dagger had no trouble opening it now.

"Let's get out of here." said Mayhem.

"Right." said Malloy.

The VENOM agents snuck down the hallway until they reached a bend. Rax was the first around it, then stepped back while signaling his teammates to hide. Matt walked past the hallway a second later and continued down the hallway he was investigating. Rax had the agents proceed when the coast was clear.

They made their way to the main entryway. "Okay, you two get back in the Jackhammer and follow me to the meeting place." said Mayhem. "Malloy, you search for Warfield and meet us there. If you're not back in half an hour, you're finding your own way home."

"You know how to hurt a guy." said Malloy as he walked up the stairs.

After reaching the top floor, Malloy began searching rooms. He pushed open doors and glanced around. He didn't have any luck for a while. A few minutes later, he came upon a larger room and heard a woman's moan.

"Warfield?" he asked. "Warfield?"

"Malloy, is that you?" came the response.

Malloy entered the room and found Warfield sitting on a bench with her mask off. Moonlight shone through the windows above and illuminated the room.

"Are you alright?" asked Malloy.

"I think so." said Warfield. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, but the statuette turned out to be a fake." said Malloy. "Do you need help?"

"Yes." said Warfield. "Come and give me a hand."

----------

Elsewhere on the top floor...

"They're not in this one either." said Hondo as he looked into another room.

"Doesn't look like anyone's been in this one for years." said Brad as he looked into another room.

"For all we know, VENOM's long gone." said Hondo.

"Maybe." said Brad. "We haven't searched the back of the castle yet. They could be there."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to check." said Hondo.

Brad and Hondo made their way to the back of the castle. They heard some strange noises as they approached the room where Malloy had found Warfield. Hondo signaled Brad to use caution.

As they reached the room, they were surprised by what they found. Warfield and Malloy were apparently locked in a passionate embrace kissing. They had their masks off and didn't notice Brad and Hondo.

"Get a load of this." whispered Hondo.

"Hey, does Mayhem know you're doing that on his time?" asked Brad.

Warfield turned to them and scared them witless. Her face was completely devoid of color, the pupils and irises of her eyes were bright red, and a pair of fangs (like a bat's) protruded from her upper jaw.

Malloy looked like he wasn't going to last long. His skin had gotten noticibly paler and he had a pair of puncture wounds in his neck. He was barely able to stand.

"Well, you showed up just in time." said Warfield.

"For what?" asked Hondo.

"The master is searching for new recruits for his army." said Warfield as she let Malloy slump to the ground. "I think that you two will do just nicely."

"Back off, Vanessa." said Brad as he took a defensive stance.

"Don't worry." said Warfield. "I'm not going to do to you what I did to Malloy."

"I mean it." warned Brad.

"I think she's trying to warn about me." said a deeper voice with a slight Irish accent.

Brad and Hondo turned to the source of the voice. They saw a tall, bald man wearing a dark robe. He too had a lack of color to his skin.

"Who are you?" asked Hondo.

"I am the master of this castle." said the man.

"Is your name Riley?" asked Hondo. "Mrs. O'Grady told us about you."

"Ah, Noel's wife." said Riley. "Tell me, how's their boy Liam doing?"

"What did you do to her?" asked Brad as he pointed to Vanessa.

"I merely brought out her true nature." said Riley. "She took to the turning rather well."

"Yeah, she has one of those personalities." said Brad.

"Do you?" asked Warfield. She grabbed him by his arm.

"Hey, let go!" said Brad as he struggled against Warfield. She tried to get his mask off.

Riley approached him with his fangs extending and his eyes turning red.

"Get away from him!" yelled Hondo.

Riley ignored him as Warfield managed to get Brad's mask off.

"I promised Matt I wouldn't use this on humans but...Blaster, fire!" said Hondo.

A yellow disk fired from his mask and hit Riley, knocking him a few steps away. However, he shrugged it off and continued to advance on Brad. Hondo froze in shock.

"Hondo, run." said Brad.

"But..." started Hondo.

"RUN!" yelled Brad.

Hondo ran back to the entrance. He looked back to see Riley digging his fangs into Brad's neck.

In the main entryway, the other agents returned.

"There wasn't much to search down there." said Matt.

"Maybe you can join us when we search the rest of the first floor." said Jacques.

"Matt!" yelled Hondo as he ran into the entryway and zipped down the stairs.

"Hondo, what's wrong?" asked Matt.

Hondo reached the floor and tried to catch his breath. "Mrs. O'Grady's story." he gasped. "It's true. There are vampires here. Warfield. She's one of them now. Maybe Malloy too."

"Where's Brad?" asked Dusty.

Hondo looked back at the door he'd come out of.

"Where's Brad?" repeated Dusty.

Hondo never answered.

He also never forgave himself.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. A Simple Plan

MASK: Fangs 

Chapter 2:A Simple Plan

AN:Just a note to point out a couple of things about two of the characters featured here, but not in MASK 2: The Next Generation:  
-Tony Whelan was named after two people: Tony Hale from "Arrested Development" and fellow fanfiction writer Fionn Whelan. Mr. Hale was also the basis of the character's appearance and voice in my mind.  
-Elizabeth Winters was (very) loosely based on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. You see, Buffy is a nickname for Elizabeth and of course, Winters is the exact opposite of Summers.  
And with that out of the way, we shall continue. And I apologize for the plot dump.

Hondo's theory had proven correct. With the improved equipment in the Manta and Condor, as well as the assistance of Warfield and the resurrected Brad and Malloy, Riley was able to escape his castle. The "army of descendants" were unable to stop them.

The vampires set up a new headquarters somewhere in the southwest United States. They built a small undead army over a period of years. They also constructed converting vehicles reverse engineered from the Condor and Manta. They were unable to develop masks due to the lack of an energy crystal. However, they had numerous abilities which made up for this.

Unable to assist the descendants, Matt turned MASK's focus to keeping this vampire army in check. VENOM had also changed their focus, but had mostly kept a low profile. MASK had introduced several new operatives and improved their vehicles in an effort to counter the vampires' increasing ranks. Oddly enough, several of the new recruits would have become members of the second MASK team had the vampire war not occurred.

The long battle was not without casualties. Dusty Hayes and Nash Gorey had fallen victim to the vampires and joined their ranks. Jacques LaFleur and Ace Riker were both killed in separate battles as were several new recruits on both sides.

To this day, the agents of MASK continue to search for a solution to the conflict. They are investigating two angles: the location of the vampires' headquarters and a possible cure to vampirism. They are very close to either, but are still quite far from a viable solution.

2007, Boulder Hill headquarters...

"Ali, how does it look in Southeast Asia?" asked Matt into a videophone.

"Forces in India and Pakistan are holding the line." said Ali. "I still do not have reports from Vietnam or Laos. All other countries are unchanged from last report."

"What about Europe, Calhoun?" asked Matt.

"We found a few strongholds, raided same." said Calhoun over the videophone. "We've still got a long way to go, but we're getting there."

"Good to hear." said Matt. "How does it go in Russia, Boris?"

"We had a few attacks in the area of St. Petersburg." said Boris. "We managed to find the source and stave it off."

"Good work." said Matt. "How's the research coming, Nevada?"

"Michael's making some progress." said Nevada. "We believe him to be closer to a solution. If he does manage to discover one, we are ready to test. A biker gang that had been turned attacked us last week. We've imprisoned the survivors."

"Thank you, Nevada." said Matt. "Thank you for your reports. I believe we're getting closer to finding their nest. Good luck and keep fighting."

Matt shut down the videophone and let out a sigh of disgust.

"Trouble, Matt?"

Matt looked over his shoulder at Bruce Sato. "The usual." he said.

"The battle is not lost yet." said Bruce.

"But it's far from won, Bruce." said Matt. "What are we doing wrong? It seems like we've settled into a routine. We fight the vampires, they fight us. We kill some of them, they kill some of us. It's not working."

"Perhaps now would be a good time to try the tracking device?" asked Bruce.

"I'm still not sure." said Matt. "Just about every plan we tried involving a tracking device ended with failure to get such a device planted on a vampire or one of their vehicles."

"Alex and Scooter have been working on a device all the same." said Bruce. "They say that it might perform a second function if we can plant one."

"We can try that." said Matt. "Let's take a look at the situation and our current equipment and see what we can do."

"I believe Gloria has been begging Liam to let his cousin join." said Bruce. "Also, we have a few new vehicles in development."

"Thanks, Bruce." said Matt. "I'll look into that."

Matt left his office. He ran into Gloria Baker in the hallway.

"Matt." she said.

"What's going on?" asked Matt.

"Buddie and Enzo finshed the work on the Wyvern." said Gloria. "She'll be ready for a test drive tomorrow."

"That's good." said Matt. "Does it have a driver yet?"

"Not yet." said Gloria. "If we don't find someone, I might volunteer."

"Anyone in mind?" asked Matt.

"Not at the moment." said Gloria. "Matt, I'm going to check out the finals of the Pan-American Martial Arts Tournament. The final battle is tonight."

"Good, you can go." said Matt. "Maybe you can find someone willing to help us."

"Right." said Gloria.

"Wait." said Matt. "Bring Liam and Tony with you."

"Liam?" asked Gloria. "I guess you want me to keep pressing."

"You know me too well." said Matt. "I'm going to the lab. Alex and Scooter had something they wanted to show me."

Gloria took off for the garage while Matt went to the technology lab. He found computer specialist Jack "Scooter" Marshall waiting. He was wearing a jumpsuit consisting of a brown top and green pants.

"So, what's this you wanted to show me?" asked Matt. "And where's Alex?"

"According to the computer, somewhere on the level above." said Scooter. "Specificly, he's near the cafeteria."

"How do you know that?" asked Matt.

"He's testing out our latest tracking device." said Scooter. "It has an integral listening device. On the other hand, it could be a listening device with an integral tracking device. It depends on how you look at it. Hold on."

Scooter had heard a woman's voice say "Alex." over the listening device.

"Ah, good evening, Julie." said Alex. "Heading for dinner, now?"

"No, I was just getting ready to leave for tonight." said Julie. "I'm sure whatever's on the schedule for tomorrow will be interesting."

"That it should." said Alex.

"Hey, have you seen Matt?" asked Julie.

"Not recently." said Alex.

"I know he's looking for new operatives." said Julie. "I was going to run my usual suggestion by him."

"Agent Jeremy Sanchez?" asked Alex.

"He was in my class at Quantico." said Julie. "He's displayed excellent skills in numerous fields. He's bound to be a valuable member of the team."

"I think your father would have liked him." said Alex.

"Yeah." said Julie sadly. "Well, I'll see you later."

"Good night." said Alex.

"So, why did you wire in a listening device?" asked Matt.

"I thought we might be able to use it to pick up some extra information." said Scooter. "We just plant the bug on the vampires and keep our ears on. The only problem is the one we've been having all along."

"Planting the bugs." asked Matt.

"I know that." said Scooter. "We're working on it. We need someone who has a lot of bravery."

"Or a death wish." said Matt. "I'll see who our next in line could be."

He started to leave and ran into a blonde woman, FBI agent Julie Gates, in the hall. She was wearing a white and blue jacket and a white skirt.

"Matt, I've been looking for you." she said.

"I thought so." said Matt. "Look, I've asked your superior about Agent Sanchez again and he's still on undercover assignment."

Julie watched Matt walk away with a confused look on her face. "How'd he know I was going to ask about that?" she asked.

"Lucky guess." replied Scooter.

----------

"This is Allison Mulligan reporting." announced a blonde woman reporter. "I am here at Fox Industries with CEO Malcolm Darwood. Earlier this week, Darwood announced that Fox Industries would be lending their support to efforts to investigate the vampire invasion. Tell me, Mr. Darwood, how do you plan to support this investigation?"

"Well, Miss Mulligan," said Darwood "I was as shocked as everyone when it was announced, maybe fifteen years ago, that vampires were real and slowly taking over the world. In our research, we have discovered that different people react to becoming vampires in different ways, depending on their personality. Some embrace the change, others reject it. Some who have rejected it have volunteered samples for research. Hopefully, this research will lead to a possible cure to this condition."

"When you said that some reject the change, what do you mean by that?" asked Mulligan.

"I'm talking about psychology on that subject." said Darwood. "If a person mentally rejects the transformation into a vampire, the range of reactions is quite wide. Some may attempt to rationalize their situation, others might devote their every moment to finding a way out. Then, there's those few who develop some kind of mental derangement."

"By that, you mean they go insane?" asked Mulligan.

"Unfortunately, yes." said Darwood. "We've seen all sorts of mental derangements. Split personalities, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder. We've even heard of someone who regressed to a child's mentality after becoming a vampire."

"That sounds quite shocking." said Mulligan. "Can you give me any details on your method of support?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot." said Darwood. "As I said earlier, some people embrace the transformation. These people are actively trying to spread the vampire infection. As you can now tell, divulging too much information on our plans would give said individuals enough fodder to difuse those plans."

"I see." said Mulligan. "Thank you very much, Mr. Darwood. Will this plan lead to an end to the vampire invasion or will it be yet another empty promise? Time will tell. For Channel Ten News, this is Allison Mulligan. Back to you, Gary."

Darwood turned off the television. "That should bring them to us." he said.

He left his office and met with his board of directors.

"Good evening, Malcolm." said one.

"Saw your interview on television." said another. "Sounds like a noble effort."

"I'm hoping it will work." said Darwood. "You know that the war with the undead is out of control when it makes the news."

A loud explosion was heard.

"What was that?" asked one of the directors.

"It came from the laboratories." said another.

Darwood went down a couple of floors to investigate. He found one of the laboratories engulfed in flames. A small group of security guards were trying to put out the fire.

"What happened?" asked Darwood.

"Somebody mixed the appropriate chemicals and a lab-destroying explosion was the result." said the chief of security.

"Sabotage?" asked Darwood.

"We found someone running from the lab just before the explosion." said the chief. "There's another group of guards searching for them."

"What was this lab working on?" asked Darwood.

"This was the lab working on a cure for vampirism." said the chief. "I'm afraid everything's lost."

Darwood scowled at the news. "Find those responsible." he said.

"Chief, we've cornered one of the suspects." said someone over the chief's walkie-talkie.

He picked it up and asked "What's your location?"

"Next floor down, near the fire stairs."

"Hold him until we get there." the chief replied.

A minute later, Darwood, the chief, and a few more guards made their way to the scene. Five guards had cornered a black-haired vampire with a moustache. One of the guards held a makeshift cross on him while the other four had their guns on him.

"Well, maybe you destroyed our research." said Darwood. "But with you, we can rebuild it."

"You can't fight us, Darwood!" snarled the vampire. "We're taking over this world!"

"How about we see whose prediction will come true, hmmm?" asked Darwood.

Suddenly, someone fired a gun and hit the guard holding the cross in the arm. Everyone looked to see a blonde female vampire pointing a gun in their direction. She was wearing a black jumpsuit with a red abdominal area and a yellow chest area.

Darwood's eyes widened with surprise. "Melissa?" he asked.

"You've aged gracefully since graduation." said Melissa. "I, however, haven't aged at all. I suggest you let Daniel go. Keeping him caged like that will only bring out the beast in him."

"You've destroyed valuable research tonight, Melissa." said Darwood. "With your friend's help, we should be able to rebuild."

"Fine by me, Malcolm." said Melissa. "Daniel, waste them. Oh, Malcolm, if you somehow manage to survive, tell Mayhem that Vanessa sends her regards."

As Melissa ran to the elevator, Daniel grabbed the two closest guards and threw them into each other. The other guards tried to subdue him, but were tossed around like stuffed animals.

Melissa forced open the elevator doors to discover there was no car waiting for her. Not caring about that, she casually jumped down the empty shaft.

Daniel was about to go after Darwood when a gunshot hit him in the shoulder. He wasn't phased. "Nice try, but you should realize I'm invulnerable." he said. A second shot rang out and he was hit in the chest. "You...cheater!" he gasped as he crumpled to the floor.

Darwood and the surviving guards looked to the source of the shots. They saw a man about Darwood's age holding a sniper rifle. "Sorry about the delay." he said. "I must've had a normal bullet in there instead of silver."

"Better late than never, Marcus." said Darwood. "You just missed Melissa Cale."

"So she's behind this." said Darwood's old friend Marcus Gilford.

"Her transportation must still be in the garage." said Darwood as he took out his cell phone. "Garage level, do you have any vehicles that seem out of the ordinary?"

"Everything seems to be in order." said the guard in the garage. "Wait, I see a Crossfire. It doesn't look familiar."

"Are you sure?" asked Darwood.

"Pretty sure." said the guard. He looked at the car, a Chrysler Crossfire with black/silver color shift paint and a custom spoiler. The sides featured blue and purple tribal graphics.

"We're on our way." said Darwood.

The guard walked over to the Crossfire. He took a long, admiring look over the car. He then turned around and came face-to-face with Melissa. All he mustered was a muffled gasp before her fangs extended and her eyes turned red.

----------

A packed parking lot surrounded the arena where the martial arts tournament was taking place. Several cars slid into the last remaining spaces.

Among those was a white '06 Chevrolet Impala with an Extreme Dimensions Racer body kit, Bomber spoiler, and Konig Holes rims. Across the hood, front fenders, and doors was an angel with spread wings.

After the car parked in a space, the front passenger-side door opened and Gloria climbed out. After that, the driver's side door opened and a priest with short, black hair and glasses climbed out. The third to climb out had been sitting in the backseat. He was a man in his early thirties with reddish-brown curly hair and was wearing an aviator's jacket with an Irish coat of arms on the back.

"Okay, guys." said Gloria. "We're here for the final matchup."

"And here, I thought this was going to be a boring night." said the priest, Father Tony Whelan.

"My mum always said we should take the time to have some fun." said the man in the jacket, Irish pilot Liam O'Grady. "That way, you can relieve some pressure that would cause some mental problems otherwise."

"And we might find someone who could join us." said Gloria. "Let's go."

The three started to head towards the arena.

"I didn't think a priest would find this to be entertaining." said Liam.

"From what I understand, matches are stopped if there's a chance of someone getting killed." said Tony. "Besides, the martial arts are about discipline and are meant to be used for defense only. This is just a test to see who's been trained the best."

----------

Darwood and Gilford made their way to the garage with a group of security guards.

"Spread out." ordered Darwood. "Look for her."

The guards began their search of the garage.

"I don't see the Crossfire." said Gilford.

"If Melissa managed to escape, that guard is in serious trouble." said Darwood.

"Mr. Darwood!" yelled a guard. Darwood and Gilford ran over with a few guards. They found the guard who found the car slumped against a Mercedes-Benz.

"Well, it looks like Melissa decided to punish him for me." said Darwood.

The other guard checked the first. "He's gone, sir." he said.

Suddenly, the "dead" guard sprung up and reached for his colleague, baring his new fangs.

Gilford quickly whipped his rifle into action and calmly shot the guard in the head.

"She's gotten clean away." said Darwood.

"Malcolm, we have to do something about this." said Gilford. "She managed to get in and out without us being able to stop her. Next time, she might blow up something more than the lab."

"I know that." said Darwood. "And I know just who to call." He took out his cell phone and snuck off to an isolated corner. "Yes, I need to speak with Miles Mayhem." he said. "Tell him Malcolm Darwood wants to set up a meeting."

----------

Around the arena, spectators watched as the final battle was prepared. Previously defeated competetors sat around ready to cheer on the final two.

"How many people were taking part in this?" asked Tony.

"Sixteen." said Gloria. "Eight were eliminated in the first round, four in the second, and two in the most recent."

"That's where I got out." said a muscular man. He was well over six feet tall, had brownish-blonde hair, and spoke with a Canadian accent.

"I take it the winners of the individual duels went on to the next round." said Liam.

"You guess right." said the man. "Kenny Harrison, representing the art of Sambo and the state of Montana...and in a way, the fine city of Calgary."

"Is that where you're from?" asked Tony.

"Yep." said Kenny. "Oh, look. The match is starting."

A man in a suit walked out onto the mattress. He picked up a microphone and said "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final round of the Pan-American Martial Arts Tournament! Over the past week, we've seen sixteen of the best martial arts warriors compete to be crowned the winner. Fourteen of them have been eliminated despite their best efforts. Let's not call these fighters losers, but instead honor them for their best efforts. But the warriors who have managed to reach this final round are all set to do battle. So, let's get those two out here and give them a round of applause."

The crowd erupted into applause as two men walked onto the mat. One wore a white karate gi with the Texas state flag on the back. He had short, brown hair and a muscular build. The other man wore a white kung fu outfit with the Nevada state flag on the back. He had blonde hair and a moustache.

"Our two finalists." said the announcer. "First of all, say 'hello' to the man representing the state of Texas and the art of Shotokan Karate, Chris Bush!"

The guy in the karate gi did a few punches and kicks into the air.

"And his opponent," said the announcer "representing the state of Nevada and the style of Hung Gar Kung Fu, Dennis Paulsen!"

The kung fu artist flashed a thumbs-up at the crowd.

"Okay, gentlemen." said the announcer. "Give a bow of honor, then we shall commence."

Chris bowed to Dennis and said "Don't hold back. I didn't come this far for a freebie."

"Don't worry, I won't." said Dennis as he bowed to Chris. "I know how you feel about a challenge."

"And now." said the announcer. "Take your marks."

Chris and Dennis took their marks.

"Get ready." said the announcer.

Chris and Dennis took defensive stances.

"Fight!" called the announcer.

Chris approached Dennis, then performed a spin kick. Dennis dodged it, then responded with a straight punch. Chris blocked it before taking a step back.

The crowd started to cheer.

"So, Liam." said Gloria. "There's something Matt wanted me to discuss with you."

Liam groaned. "It's about his manpower shortage, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah." said Gloria. "Your cousin Max has been training with us these past few weeks."

"Look, I know I'm descended from a member of the army that sealed away Riley." said Liam. "My father and his brother were too. By extention, that means my cousin is also a descendant."

"Whoa!" yelled Tony as Dennis successfully landed a kick to Chris' knee.

"You know as well as I do that Riley would like nothing better than to turn one who opposes him." said Liam. "As much as I want this bloody war to end, I don't think that bringing in me cousin is worth it. Do you know what the most important thing to the Irish is?"

"Breakfast?" asked Gloria.

"Family." said Liam.

"Oh, I thought you meant as in things you eat." said Gloria.

Chris threw another punch which Dennis blocked. Chris followed up with a spin kick. Dennis tried to dodge it, only to be struck in the back of the head and knocked down.

Chris covered his mouth in shock as the crowd gasped.

"Ooh, that's a rule violation." said Kenny.

----------

At a mansion somewhere in the American Southwest, Melissa pulled into an underground garage and parked. Within minutes, she had reached Riley's office.

"Well, Miss Cale?" asked Riley.

"Darwood has some kind of plan in effect." said Melissa. "I put a serious dent in it tonight and got the details."

She handed him a flash drive.

"His plan is on this?" asked Riley as he took the flash drive.

"I downloaded it from the computer in the lab I destroyed." said Melissa. "He probably won't even know the information is gone."

"This will help us immensely." asked Riley.

"Hopefully, we can use it to completely crush Malcolm's plans." said Melissa. "We lost Hurt in the middle of the operation."

"I will not miss a low level cat burglar." said Riley. "Perhaps we should take care of this lab on the college campus tomorrow night."

"I think we should wait until Elizabeth returns with her new recruits first." said Melissa.

"I think our current membership should be sufficient." said Riley. "However, a larger group might be able to perform a second raid."

"I hope you realize Darwood is affiliated with Mayhem." said Warfield as she strode in. She had on a purple dress that stopped at her knees with a black jacket over it.

"I know." said Melissa. "And I'm aware that VENOM might be backing up Darwood's efforts. I also know that Darwood will not simply overlook this evening's events."

"So, we can assume he will call for reinforcements." said Warfield.

"Keep your ears open for headhunting expeditions from Darwood." said Melissa.

Another vampire had been listening in on their conference. When it was over, he walked away and dialled a number on his cell phone.

----------

"Look, I'm really sorry about that." said Chris in the infirmary. "They say that as soon as you're okay, they'll schedule a rematch."

"That's generous of them." said Dennis as he held an icepack to his head.

"You know, if they hadn't seen that hit," said Chris "they might have crowned me the winner."

"Lucky me." said Dennis.

"Sure, you can see them." said the nurse.

"Thank you." said Gloria as she, Liam, and Tony entered the infirmary. "Are you alright?"

"I think so." said Dennis. "Chris walloped me pretty bad, but they say I'll be fine."

"You guys were pretty good out there." said Liam.

"Thank you." said Chris and Dennis simultaneously.

"You both showed off your training and discipline out there." said Gloria. "We just might have a request of you."

"How's that?" asked Chris.

"A request." said Tony. "A challenge, a dare, whatever you want to call it."

"I don't know if you've heard," said Liam "but we are part of one of the biggest groups fighting the vampire menace. However, we are frequently losing members to the rigors of battle and we need..."

"New blood?" asked Chris.

"You could say that." said Gloria.

"Whoa." said Dennis.

"I appreciate you considering me for your group." said Chris. "However, I can't help you right now. I've just been through a major tournament and I need to recooperate. If you still need me in a month, come around. I just might be able to help."

"I don't know if you were paying attention," said Dennis "but I took a rather serious injury out there. I'm going to be recooperating as well. If you still need either of us, you can also look me up."

"I see." said Gloria. "I think I'd like to know your qualifications for when you're available."

"Well, I was trained in Las Vegas since the early nineties." said Dennis. "My sifu was a Hung Gar master from..."

"Hold it, what's that?" asked Tony as he looked to the entrance. A loud commotion was coming from the arena.

The agents returned to the arena and found utter chaos. "Holy cow!" yelled Liam.

The arena was under attack by a horde of vampires. One had his fangs in the announcer's neck. The crowd ran for their lives. Some of the vampires were attacking the former contestants in the tournament.

"Are we going to let these undead hosers take us down?" yelled Kenny.

"No!" came the collective response.

Kenny punched the palm of his other hand. "Then, let's take THEM down instead!" he said.

"Yeah!" yelled the fighters.

"This is better than the tournament itself!" said Tony.

"Tony, go to the car and get our masks." said Gloria.

"We'll try to survive until you get back." said Liam.

"Right." said Tony as he ran out to the parking lot.

The vampire biting the announcer finally sucked him dry.

"You took too much." said a female vampire. She had brown hair and was wearing black and blue motorcycle leathers. "Oh well, he wouldn't have worked for our purposes anyway."

"I know who that is." said Gloria.

"Who?" asked Liam.

"Her name is Elizabeth Winters." said Gloria. "In the nineties, she was a mercenary for hire. In 1997, she began using her skills to hunt vampires. A bite to the neck changed all that in 2003. She's been single-handedly responsible for several losses on our side ever since."

"Maybe we should stake her here and now." said Liam.

"Good luck with that." said Gloria. "Many of the ones she's bitten were attempting to kill her at the time."

"Sorry I brought it up." said Liam.

Chris and Dennis ran to the doorway.

"I know you're hurt, but can you do this?" asked Chris.

"I'm suddenly feeling better." said Dennis.

A vampire pounced on Kenny. He grabbed it and threw it to the ground, then did an elbow drop on it.

Another vampire tackled a judoka only to be thrown over his shoulder. The judoka grabbed the vampire's arm and quickly performed a hold which broke it.

A third attacked a capoeira fighter, but was unable to land a blow due to the fighter's dodging moves. The fighter then performed a spin kick followed by a foot sweep which brought the vampire to the floor.

A teenage girl who'd been a spectator was hiding under the stands. Thinking it was safe to make a run for it, she ran out of hiding and ran for the closest exit. It wasn't safe and she was quickly captured by a vampire. "Let me go!" she screamed.

"Join us." said the vampire.

"I believe she asked first." said a black man with an African accent.

"I don't recall her saying 'please'." said the vampire.

The African man threw a dagger and hit the vampire in the arm, making him release the girl. "Please." said the African.

The girl continued her run to the exit while the African took a wooden knife and tossed it at the vampire. He pierced the vampire's heart with it. As the vampire slumped to the floor, the African said "They say that you must use a stake, but I find knives just as effective."

A young couple had been trying to escape through the main entrance. They were now completely surrounded by vampires.

"Maybe sneaking out of the house wasn't such a good idea." said the boy.

Chris and Dennis vaulted over the rail at the stands.

"Banzai!" called Chris.

The two martial artists joined the couple. "We'll handle this." said Dennis.

The vampires approached them. Chris jumped and kicked one in the head. Dennis delivered a series of strikes to the chest of another.

"Think we should give them a hand or two?" asked Liam.

"I think it best that you do not interfere." said the African.

"Who are you?" asked Gloria.

"Call me Carl." said the African.

One of the vampires grabbed Dennis by the back of his head, aggrivating his head injury. Another twisted Chris' arm until he dropped to his knee. A third grabbed the boy and prepared to bite into his neck. The girl started to hyperventilate.

Suddenly, Tony burst through the entrance wearing his mask and carrying Gloria's and Liam's. When he saw the scene in front of him, he dropped the two masks, reached his arms out to the sides, and called "Cross, on!"

A gold cross appeared in front of him and made the vampires cringe. The couple ran from the circle and Chris and Dennis continued their fight.

Liam dove for his mask and threw Gloria's to her. The couple ran over to Tony. "Thank you." said the girl.

"What was your plan?" asked Tony.

"To get out of here as soon as possible." said the boy.

"Good plan. Continue it." said Tony.

Liam and Gloria donned their masks. Meanwhile, Elizabeth watched the scene take place. She suddenly glaced over her shoulder, then turned to intercept Carl.

"You noticed me." he said.

"Not good enough yet." said Elizabeth.

Carl jumped back and took a defensive stance. Elizabeth threw a kick at him, but he countered with one of his own. She threw a punch that he managed to block.

A Tae Kwon Do expert knocked down a vampire with a series of kicks. Another vampire was taken down by a few kicks from a kickboxer.

Kenny threw in another vampire he had taken down. "You know, for monsters, they're not putting up much of a fight." he said.

The vampires got back up and resumed the fight.

"Happy now?" asked the kickboxer.

Liam stepped into action while wearing his mask and called "Cataclysm, fire!" A blue spout of water fired from his mask and sprayed all over the vampires and the TKD expert. The vampires started to twist in pain, then slumped to the ground.

"Water?" asked the TKD fighter.

"Holy water." said Liam.

Carl and Elizabeth continued their fight. She wrapped her arm around his chest and said "You now get to join the rest of your tribe."

"What makes you think I'll join you?" asked Carl.

"You know deep down, you're just like me." said Elizabeth.

Carl quickly twisted out of the hold and sent her stumbling across the mat. "Any other ideas you have?" he asked.

"Just one." said Elizabeth. She pulled a few throwing daggers out of a holder and threw them at him.

"Aura, on!" called Gloria. A yellow bolt of electricity shot from her mask and knocked the daggers out of the air.

Carl still caught one and threw it back. He hit Elizabeth in the abdomen.

"You're becoming quite the burden for us." said Elizabeth as she pulled out the dagger. "I can see this was a costly mistake."

"You can tell Riley I am close to tracking him down." said Carl. "I will be getting my vengeance."

"Thanks for the warning." said Elizabeth. She turned and left. However, none of her undead warriors had survived.

"Good job, lads." said Liam. "You just banded together to soundly defeat an enemy much more powerful than yourselves. We only had one casualty, but that's still one more than I'd like."

"We almost had a few more." said Dennis grimly.

"Will he become a vampire?" asked Gloria as Tony looked over the announcer's corpse.

"No, they took too much blood." said Tony. "Look, is it okay if I give him last rites?"

"Go ahead." said Gloria.

----------

Half an hour later, the police had arrived on the scene. The people who remained behind were questioned. The announcer was zipped into a body bag and taken away.

"I liked him too." said Tony.

Liam walked up to Carl. "If I heard right, you have some kind of history with that lass." he said.

"She was with those who attacked my village." said Carl. "Nearly one hundred of my tribesmen either died or were transformed into those abominations of nature."

"And you're on a hunt for revenge." said Liam.

"For that, I came here." said Carl. "I learned Kenpo and various tracking techniques. I discovered the vampires were planning to invade the tournament and attended to intercept them."

"What? Don't you think you should have warned them?" asked Liam angrily.

"I did." said Carl. "They ignored me. So, I came to protect those who did not know they'd be walking into a deathtrap."

"Carl, we're looking for a few good men." said Liam. "We're trying our best to cure the victims of the vampires."

"The victims of the vampires are vampires themselves." said Carl. "The vampires have the perfect recruiting tool. Anyone they recruit has a perfect chance of joining them."

"That's not what our findings indicate." said Liam. "Some of their victims manage to reject the psychological effects of the transformation. We believe some of them can be helped. This includes some of your tribesmen."

"They cannot be helped." said Carl. "I know that once a person has died, they're gone for good. This is simple."

"I'm asking you to join us." said Liam. "Our team could use a man with your skills."

"Your team needs all the help it can get." said Carl. "Your methods are soft and ineffective. The fact that you want to help these fiends instead of erradicating them tells me this much."

"Nothing will be gained by rushing into the fray with a head full of rage." said Liam. "How would you rather solve this? A temporary fix or an effective, permanent solution?"

"My methods have worked well so far." said Carl as he started to leave. "They will continue to work for me. I bid you and yours farewell and good luck."

"Now wait just a minute!" yelled Liam. "We need someone like you and you need someone like us! If you..."

Chris put his hand against Liam's chest and said "Hey, hey, hey. Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean because remember: Wherever you go, there you are."

Liam looked at him for a couple of seconds, then said "That is the dumbest thing I have heard in my life." He then walked away.

Gloria and Tony followed him. They eventually found themselves in the parking lot next to Tony's Impala.

"That didn't go well." said Tony.

"You think?" asked Liam.

"He was right, Liam." said Gloria. "His methods conflicted with ours. He wouldn't have worked with us. Our search for recruits didn't pan out here."

"Not necessarily." said Liam. "We have a couple of potentials with those two finalists."

"Do you think he was right?" asked Tony. "Are we being too forgiving? Are we searching in vain for good in the vampires?"

"Relax, Tony." said Gloria. "We've seen many vampires resist their bloodlust long enough to help us. Many of them were seeking a refrain from their curse."

"Even so," said Tony "you have to admit Liam was seeking this guy's assistance very aggressively. I think a little more and he would have cracked."

"I had a reason for that." said Liam. "I thought that if we could get him on our side, that would solve our problems. Then, we wouldn't have to seek more recruits. His methods were working for him and I thought we might be able to use them."

"More recruits?" asked Gloria. "Like your cousin?"

"I've mentioned his abilities, his drive, his attitude." said Liam. "I've shared my war stories with him and he's actually found some better ideas than we implemented. But he's my cousin. I couldn't bring myself to bring him in. He's my best link with my family in the New World. Still, everyone is saying that Max would be perfect for us. That I should bring him in. Everybody except for me. However, I just can't shake the feeling that I might be risking the world just to protect my family."

"Are you saying you're ready to call on Max now?" asked Tony.

Liam stood silently for a second, then nodded and said "Aye."

"Call him." said Gloria.

Liam took out his cellular phone. He hit a button on his speed dial and put the phone to his ear. "Max, it's Liam...I've thought about you wanting to join us...I know I told you a few times I didn't want you on the team...Well, I talked it over with some of the others. We need you. You can come in tomorrow."

He then held the phone away from himself and a loud cheer erupted from the earpiece. He then put the phone back to his ear and said "I knew you'd be excited...Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

He hung up.

"Thank you, Liam." said Gloria.

"It's no problem." said Liam.

"I think you did good." said Tony.

"I hope so." said Liam. "Tonight, I'm going to pray for a sign that I made the right move."

AN:In case you read "MASK 2: The Next Generation" and were wondering, Daniel Hurt and Dennis Paulsen are in fact the Foxes agents known as Hack and Crossbones. Melissa Cale is another character for a future MASK 2 fic which got put on hold due to working on another fic.  
We will continue.


	3. New Blood

MASK: Fangs 

Chapter 3:New Blood

AN:There is a racetrack in this chapter. I based it on the Red Rock Valley course from Gran Turismo 2.

Just before sunrise, Elizabeth pulled into the garage at the mansion on a black metallic Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R with red flames across the cowling. She parked and walked past someone working on a car as the garage door closed.

"How's it looking, Nash?" she asked.

Nash Gorey, now a vampire, looked up and said "It's nearing completion. I'm going to turn in for the day soon. How did the raid go?" He was wearing a black jumpsuit with a grey midsection.

Elizabeth gave a thumbs-down. "Those losers they sent with me couldn't raid a church picnic." she said.

"Sorry to hear that." said Gorey. "At least you came back alive...so to speak."

"Yeah, I need to check in." said Elizabeth.

She walked through a doorway to the house itself. As soon as she entered the foyer, a young, female vampire with red hair dropped onto her back and said "Sneak attack!" She was wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt with a cartoon cat on it.

Elizabeth stumbled a few feet before steadying herself against a table. She quickly realized who her attacker was. "Hello, Laura." she said. "Next time, try that on a human."

Laura dropped from Elizabeth's back. "How did your raid go?" she asked. "Did you get the humans? Huh? Huh?"

"Sorry, Laura." said Elizabeth. "The humans beat us. The men were all killed."

"Awwwww." said Laura. "We'll get 'em next time."

"I'm sure we will." said Elizabeth.

"Is it bedtime yet?" asked Laura.

"Just about." said Elizabeth. "I have to talk with Mr. Riley. You go on ahead."

"I'll be waiting." said Laura. She then ran off towards a door on the lower level.

Elizabeth went to Riley's office. She found him preparing to take sleep. "Well?" he asked.

"Complete disaster." reported Elizabeth. "MASK was there. So was Carl."

"Your backup?" asked Riley.

"Dusted." said Elizabeth. "What did Melissa find?"

"Malcolm Darwood is instituting a plan to cure vampires." said Riley. "If that were to happen, it would take away our advantage over the humans and ruin our plans to conquer them."

"I see what you mean." asked Elizabeth. "What are we going to do to prevent his plan from coming to fruition?"

"Right now, I think we need to disrupt each of the sites where his project is being worked on." said Riley.

"I take it Melissa got the locations as well." said Elizabeth.

"She did." said Riley. "We begin our counterplan tonight."

"I want to be in on the planning." said Elizabeth. "I want revenge on those who destroyed my men."

"Granted. said Riley. "In any case, go get some rest."

"I will." said Elizabeth.

Elizabeth entered the bedroom she shared with Laura. Laura was already in her coffin.

"I still don't understand why we have to sleep in coffins." said Laura.

"Because if the sunlight were to catch us, we'd die." said Elizabeth. "You don't want that to happen, do you?"

"No, that would be bad." said Laura. "Sleep well, Elizabeth. I'll see you in the evening."

Elizabeth tucked Laura in and closed her coffin. She said "Sleep tight", then went to her own coffin and closed herself inside.

Down the hall, in another coffin, another vampire dialled a cell phone.

----------

At the Boulder Hill gas station, a red Acura RSX with a carbon fiber spoiler, aftermarket rims, a Veilside body kit, and a mural of a sunburst on the side pulled in. The driver, a young man with wavy, blonde hair and sunglasses, climbed out and approached the service bay.

"Excuse me, can you help me?" he asked the mechanics.

"Looking for someone?" asked MASK computer specialist Alex Sector. He walked away from the back door to meet the guy.

"I was told to come here." said the man. "My cousin said there was something you could do for my car that would be very beneficial."

"What was this something?" asked Alex.

"A 'Multi-Actuated System Kore' he called it."

"I take it you're Liam's cousin." said Alex.

"Max O'Grady. Nice to meet you."

"Alex Sector. Come on, the others are waiting to meet you."

Alex led Max into the back. "So, who were those guys in the service bay?" asked Max.

"They're just mechanics." said Alex. "We employ them to maintain the cover of our front operation."

"Are they any good?" asked Max.

"Well, they wouldn't be a bloody good front if they weren't." said Alex.

They entered the main command center. Matt, Tony, Julie, and Hondo were waiting for them. Hondo was answering his cell phone.

"Ah, you must be Liam's cousin." said Matt. "Welcome to MASK. I'm Matt Trakker, the guy in charge."

"Ooh, the head honcho." said Max.

Tony approached and said "Tony Whelan, spiritual specialist and parish priest."

"Hey, brother." said Max.

Julie was next. "Julie Gates, FBI agent and vehicle specialist."

"Good to be working with you." said Max.

"And that's Hondo MacLean." said Matt. "Weapons and tactics specialist."

"Whoever this is, STOP CALLING ME!" yelled Hondo into his phone before ending the call.

"And frequent prank call victim from the looks of it." said Max.

"Sorry you had to see that." said Hondo. "Liam talks a great deal about you."

"Where is he?" asked Max.

"Sleeping." said Tony. "He had a rough night last night."

"I'll take you to him." said Hondo.

Hondo led him to the sleeping quarters.

"Not that it's any of my business," said Max "but do you want to tell me what that call was about?"

"In the past few years, I've been getting calls." said Hondo. "Someone, I assume a vampire, has been calling me and taunting me with all kinds of reports on our developments. He tells me about the agents who get turned, about plans that go wrong, about men we lose."

"Do you have caller ID?" asked Max. "Why don't you ignore his calls?"

"Because he gives out useful information every other call." said Hondo. "In fact, he told us about a counter to Malcolm Darwood's vampire cure plan last night."

"Malcolm Darwood?" asked Max.

"You see him on the news last night?" asked Hondo.

"No, I was street racing." said Max. He then realized what he said and asked "You're not a cop, are you?"

"Malcolm Darwood announced on the news that his company was enacting a plan to research and cure vampires." said Hondo. "Deep Throat told me the vampires were planning on destroying this plan. Like a guy with half a brain couldn't figure that out."

Hondo opened a door to a room and revealed Liam sleeping on a cot. He was using his bomber jacket as a pillow.

"There's your cuz." said Hondo.

Max leaned in close and yelled "Liam!"

Liam burst awake and looked up at Max. "Max, you're in early." he said as he checked his watch.

"I drove all night." said Max.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're a vampire too." said Liam. "Hondo, are you giving him the tour?"

"A little." said Hondo. "I still have to introduce him to a few guys. Of course, Gloria and our mechanics are out testing a new vehicle."

----------

At a racetrack out in the desert, Gloria stood next to a flatbed truck and worked the controls for the platform.

"Jeesh, Enzo." said Buddie Hawks as he leaned against the truck. "Could you have put any more garlic on that?"

"As long as it keeps the vampires away." said fellow mechanic Enzo Castaldi, a short man with black, curly hair, a moustache, and an Italian accent. He was opening a Tupperware container filled with pasta and wearing a blue and yellow jumpsuit.

"Even with the excessive garlic, it smells good." said Gloria.

"Si, si." said Enzo. "A nice little something from the old country...like the Wyvern."

"You got that right." said Gloria as she looked over the Wyvern. It was an orange Lamborghini Murcielago with a wide spoiler on the rear and yellow tribal graphics on the side. Bronze-plated DBL-G 15 rims were mounted to the wheels.

"I think we did a nice job on her, Enzo." said Buddie.

"I know we did." said Enzo. "Belissimo."

"Well, here goes the first test drive." said Gloria.

She climbed into the driver's seat and fastened her seatbelt. After starting the engine and driving the car out of the pit area, she took it up to sixty. She eased it into the first turn, then brought it back to a hundred.

"She's fast, I'll give her that." said Gloria. "I think I'll take a second lap to get a definite feel for her."

"That's shorthand for 'I like this car'." said Enzo.

"Okay, Gloria, but I have to warn you about something." said Buddie. "There's a second car entering the track. Watch out for it."

"Got it." said Gloria.

Gloria raced through the final turn and roared towards the start/finish line at one hundred and eighty. As she approached, a silver Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren tore out of the pits. After matching the Wyvern's speed, the driver flashed the headlights.

"Okay, let's see whatcha got." said Gloria.

The two cars raced into the first turn at around ninety. The SLR actually managed to close the gap by a half-second.

The cars then weaved through a chicane, then passed over a bridge and raced into a high-bank turn at over one hundred and thirty. The track curved back and crossed the bridge it had just passed under.

The two cars entered a tunnel resulting in a deafening roar from their engines. After exiting the tunnel, the cars went into the final turn at a hundred, then went full throttle on the main stretch. That's when the SLR finally overtook the Wyvern.

"Whoa." said Buddie. "That driver's good."

"She took down Gloria." said Enzo.

After one more lap, the two cars entered the pits and parked. Gloria climbed out of the Wyvern and approached the SLR.

"Nice driving." she said. "Came out of that last turn faster than I could."

The SLR's door opened and a woman with long, brown hair climbed out. "Thanks, but I completely messed up that chicane." she said. "I should have been able to take it maybe ten miles per hour faster. Oh my goodness, you're Gloria Baker!"

"Caitlin Horowitz?" asked Gloria.

"Who's she?" asked Enzo.

"She's like the Danica Patrick of the Speed World Challenge." said Buddie. "She started a few years ago and has been steadily rising in the ranks."

"Ah, I don't follow Speed World Challenge." said Enzo. "That is why I don't know."

"It's been said that Gloria is the reason she got into racing." said Buddie. "I've also heard that her cousin was the victim of a vampire attack and you can guess the rest."

"Si, I think I can." said Enzo.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Gloria.

"I like to come here to unwind." said Caitlin. "The track owner is a longtime friend. He's a little sympathetic due to what happened to my cousin Adam."

"I heard about that." said Gloria. "I'm sorry we weren't able to help him."

"I can still applaud you for trying to prevent that from happening to others." said Caitlin. "You're sparing people the anguish that my family went through. I can tell you that's not pleasant."

"I know what you mean." said Gloria. "You're not sure if those you care for are fighting with their vampirism or deliberately spreading it."

"That's what I'm afraid of." said Caitlin. "If there's one good thing about Adam's turning, it's that it's inspired my family to become more faithful. Adam was without his Star of David at the time. We think it might have saved him."

"I see you still have yours." said Gloria as she pointed to the Star of David hanging from Caitlin's neck. "Does that work as well as a cross?"

"In theory." said Caitlin. "Thankfully, I've never had to test this theory."

"You know, we're constantly looking for new team members." said Gloria. "You've got serious skills and clear motivation. If you're up to it, do you want us to give you a call?"

"Only if I get to drive that." said Caitlin as she pointed to the Wyvern. "I love Lamborghinis. While the other girls had posters of George Michael on their walls, I had one of a red Countach."

"You've got good taste." said Gloria. "I'll check with my superior and see if there's a place for you."

"Thank you." said Caitlin. "I'll see you later."

----------

"Next up is the vehicle bay." said Hondo.

"Alright." said Max. "I've heard a lot about you guys. I'd love to see some vintage 80s sheetmetal."

"Well, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed." said Hondo. "Over time, we decided to update the vehicles."

He led Max into the vehicle bay. In front of them were the MASK vehicles.

The Thunder Hawk had been updated to a 2002 Camaro, the Firecracker was now a Ford F-250 Super Duty, the Rhino had become a Kenworth T-2000, and the Firefly had been updated into a Lotus Elise. All of the vehicles had retained their original paint jobs, however, and the Hurricane was still a '57 Bel Air.

"I see your vehicle hasn't changed." said Max.

"Can't really improve on a '57 Chevy, right?" asked Hondo.

"Well, those are the originals." said Max. "Where are the new ones?"

"Over here." said Hondo, pointing to a row of cars.

"This is Tony's car, the Angel." said Hondo as he pointed out the Impala from the previous night.

"Your cousin drives this, the Tempest." said Hondo as he pointed to a green fourth-generation Mitsubishi Eclipse. A full body kit complete with spoiler and carbon fiber hood was mounted to the car. The wheels featured chrome TSW Mondello rims and the sides featured yellow rectangles with white arches.

"This is Julie's car, the Orca." said Hondo. He pointed to a black Mazda MX-5 with a white lower half and a Bomex body kit. The rims were black O.Z. Leonardos. A scoop was mounted on the hood and a carbon fiber spoiler was on the trunklid.

"This car, the Bumblebee, is driven by our mechanic, Enzo Castaldi." said Hondo as he pointed to a yellow Lancia Ypsillon. The car had a custom body kit, black dual stripes on the sides, and bronze BBS RK rims.

"Our computer expert, Scooter, drives this vehicle." said Hondo as he pointed out a red metallic Chrysler Pacifica with gold katakana on the sides. Gold iForged Illusion rims were mounted to the wheels. "We call it the Naginata.

"And here's yours." said Hondo. In front of them was a pearlescent silver Chevrolet HHR with chrome Centerline Excel wheels, purple splash graphics, and a carbon fiber spoiler.

"Nice!" said Max. "What do you call it?"

"We call it the Ape." said Bruce. Max and Hondo looked to see him approach. "Liam's cousin, I assume. Bruce Sato, designs and engineering."

"So, you're the guy behind these." said Max. "Nice work. So, which one's yours?"

"I'm retired from combat." said Bruce. "I'm strictly part of the design team now."

"So, who's replacing you in the field?" asked Max.

"That would be me." said a Chinese man about Max's age. He was wearing blue jeans and a grey t-shirt with a trucking company's logo on it. "Wei Chang, heavy equipment specialist."

"Looks like we're gonna be working together." said Max.

"This is Liam's cousin, the new bulletstopper." said Hondo.

"Wha?" asked Max.

"Hondo's just kidding." laughed Wei. "He means 'fangstopper'."

"You're not instilling me with a lot of confidence." said Max.

"Don't worry about it." said Hondo. "Let's go see about getting you a mask."

----------

At a parking lot for a train station, Darwood and Gilford waited while standing around a black Cadillac XLR.

"When is Mayhem getting here?" asked Gilford.

"I don't know." said Darwood. "He just said to meet him here around this time."

It was then that they heard a dull roar. They looked up to see the revised Switchblade landing. The vehicle was now a civilianized Kamov Ka-50 Hokum.

While that was happening, five more vehicles raced into the parking lot. Four of these were the updated VENOM vehicles, the Jackhammer (a Ford Expedition), the Stinger (a 2005 GTO), the Iguana (a Hyundai Santa Fe), and the Buzzard (a McLaren F1). Like the MASK vehicles, they had also retained their original paint schemes.

The only vehicle of the surviving VENOM agents missing was the Piranha. In its place was a purple Ford Focus with white and yellow lightning graphics, a Kaminari body kit, and Work VS-SS rims.

The ground vehicles surrounded the XLR and the Switchblade landed in the open space next to it. The VENOM agents exited their vehicles.

"You should have a very good reason for calling this meeting, Darwood." said Mayhem.

"I do." said Darwood. "Last night, one of my laboratories was destroyed. The culprit was none other than Melissa Cale."

"So, she too is working for the vampires." said Mayhem. "Is she one of them like Warfield, Gorey, and Malloy?"

"Indeed she is." said Darwood. "I know what she came for. She came for the plans to my anti-vampire program. She probably doesn't suspect that I know that she stole the plans before destroying the lab. She probably thinks I still assume the destruction of the lab was her only goal."

"What do you want me for?" asked Mayhem.

"The vampires are most likely targeting my project on its many fronts." said Darwood. "This will be our best opportunity to take them out. MASK is currently involved with fighting the vampires, so defeating them can be done as well."

"Have you noticed that my forces have become very understaffed over the years?" asked Mayhem. "We're not exactly in a position to defeat anyone. Our best bet is if MASK and the vampires mutually decimate each other, then clean up afterward."

"That is why I am proposing that we bring in some new operatives." said Darwood. "You and the Contraworld will provide the equipment while I use my connections to find the men who will use it."

"What makes you think we can muster that kind of equipment?" asked Mayhem.

"Miles, my good man." said Darwood. "It's no secret the Contraworld has been massing its forces to fight the vampires. They have the equipment, but not the manpower. If we can marry said equipment with any operatives I can find, victory is almost assured."

"You drive a hard bargain, Darwood." said Mayhem. "What do you propose while you amass these troops?"

"For now, I'd like you and yours to protect my project." said Darwood. "I'll tell you where that is taking place and you can show up."

"It's a deal." said Mayhem. "We'll be there with bells on."

----------

Scooter tapped away at his keyboard. Finally, he looked at the screen and said "Yes!"

Meanwhile, Buddie and Enzo pulled into the garage in the transport truck with the Wyvern on the back.

"How'd the test go?" asked Matt.

"Gloria gives it a thumbs-up." said Buddie.

"And where is she?" asked Matt.

Gloria pulled in behind him in the Shark, which was now a Porsche Cayman S. She parked and climbed out.

"I heard the test went well." said Matt.

"Sure did." said Gloria. "I ran across someone who might be able to help us too."

"Who's that?" asked Matt.

"Her name is..." said Gloria.

"Matt!" said Scooter as he ran into the garage. "I managed to hack into Fox Industries' computer network. I got the plans for Darwood's anti-vampire program."

"What can we do with that?" asked Gloria.

"The vampires are going to try to disrupt the program." said Matt. "If we can be on the scene to protect the program, we just might be able to see it through."

"Should we get the others?" asked Gloria.

"Definitely." said Matt.

----------

Later, the agents had gathered in the briefing room.

"Unbelievable." said Max. "I joined the team this morning and already I've got an assignment."

"The vampires were probably trying to recruit for this last night." said Tony.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure by now you've heard about Malcolm Darwood's plans to fight vampirism." said Matt. "What you might not have heard is that the vampires have begun to take steps to put this plan on ice."

"My anonymous source said as much." said Hondo. "Without knowing who he is, I can't verify his information."

"Hondo's right." said Julie. "For all we know, they might be trying to draw us away from our headquarters for an attack."

"That's why I'm planning on dividing our forces for maximum coverage." said Matt. "There are three locations mentioned in Darwood's plan. Those are a research center, a branch office of Fox Industries, and a lab at Boulder Hill Community College. Darwood is sponsoring a research program there as part of his anti-vampire project."

"Who's where?" asked Liam.

"Just in case we're being lured away from the base," said Matt "Buddie, Enzo, and myself will keep watch. Gloria is in charge of the group at the research center. She will be backed up by Tony and Liam. Hondo will guard the branch office. Julie and Julio will go with him. Finally, Alex is in charge of the final group at the college. Naturally, Wei goes with him, as will the new guy, Max."

"Looks like you're giving me the orders, Mr. Sector." said Max.

"Call me Alex. The other agents do."

"Before we go into battle," said Scooter "I'd like to give out some equipment."

"Cool." said Max.

"Nothing too serious." said Julio. "It's just a tracking device which should help find their lair."

----------

"We're trying to put together a group to fight the vampires." said Darwood. "I think your skills would be perfect for that group. What do you say, Mr. Kelly? Will you join?"

"Are you crazy?" asked the nervous, brown-haired man he was talking to. "You're suggesting we go up against something that could kill us in a heartbeat?"

"Precisely." said Darwood.

"Do you have something that can destroy them easily?" asked Kelly. "Because that's the only reason I can think of that you'd try such a risky endeavor."

"We're working on a few things." said Darwood. "You'll be in good company with your fellow operatives."

"Every fiber of my being says 'no'." said Kelly. "But they also tell me you're not a man who takes 'no' for an answer."

"They are correct on that." said Darwood. "Is that you saying 'yes'?"

"I guess so." said Kelly.

"Now, I need a man who's good with armor." said Darwood. "Unfortunately, my contacts are coming up short on finding one. Can you recommend somebody?"

"Oh, you definitely want Richard Bates." said Kelly. "He's a little crazy...and a little sadistic...and a little bloodthirsty. But he's the best when it comes to breaking through stuff. In fact, if you were to call on him, I might not feel so apprehensive about this."

"You have yourself a deal." said Darwood. "Now, how can I get in touch with this Bates?"

----------

Meanwhile, a muscular, blonde-haired man leaned against an old Chevy Blazer. The roar of engines could be heard in the distance. Within a few seconds, an '87 Chevy Monte Carlo SS raced down the road next to him and came to a halt. A blonde-haired woman climbed out, snapped her fingers on both hands, and high-fived the man.

"Way to go, little sis!" he said.

A few seconds later, Gilford drove past in Darwood's XLR. He pulled in next to the two and climbed out.

"Ha ha, you lost to a girl!" chided the man. His sister quickly hit him in the stomach.

"Okay, I'll admit it." said Gilford. "You're a better driver than I am."

"So, do I have the skills for your little project?" asked the woman.

"I would say so." said Gilford. "Your brother is coming too, I assume."

"What do you say, Calvin? Are you in?" asked the woman.

Calvin nodded and moaned "Mmm hmm." while rubbing his stomach.

"Now, I'm also looking for a seasoned martial artist." said Gilford.

"I know just the guy." said Calvin. "We got into a little action in Reno. The job didn't go so well, if you catch my drift, so he went back to more legitimate works."

"Does this man have a name?" asked Gilford.

"You know, strangely enough, he doesn't." said Calvin. "I think he was the only man on Earth who doesn't have a name. Of course he has a name, doofus. It's Dennis Paulsen."

----------

In the computer lab...

"Okay, these are the tracking devices I was talking about." said Scooter. "Matt wants you to plant one on a vampire's vehicle if you get the chance."

"Then what?" asked Max. "How do I activate it, I mean?"

"Oh, it's already activated." said Scooter. "Hopefully, we can use this to track them back to their headquarters and get them."

"Sounds complicated." said Max.

"Not really." said Scooter. "Since the research you're protecting is inside a building, one of the vampires will have to leave their vehicle to get it."

"So, I just have to plant it and forget about it. Gotcha." said Max.

Matt entered. "Max, are you ready to leave?" he asked.

"Just about." said Max. "Scooter explained the bug to me. Don't worry, I'll do my best." He then left.

"Good." said Matt. "Scooter, can you keep tabs on it?"

"Well, it's complicated." said Scooter.

"How so?" asked Matt.

"To maximize battery life, we had to reduce the range of the listening device." said Alex.

"That's right." said Scooter. "The listening device has a broadcast range of two miles. On the other hand, a decent satellite can pick up the tracking device anywhere."

"In order to listen in," said Alex "Scooter is going to have to get within that range with the Naginata."

"Are you sure you want to take that risk?" asked Matt.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have joined MASK." said Scooter.

"I guess you have a point." said Matt.

"Relax, he'll be fine while the sun's out." said Alex.

----------

"Mr. Weller, we need someone who is highly intelligent." said Darwood. "Everyone else on our side is seriously lacking in that department."

"I hope they're physicly fit because I'm seriously lacking in THAT department." said the blonde-haired man with glasses he was talking to, Charlie Weller.

"I can see that." said Darwood. "So, are you in or not?"

"I am." said Weller. "I've got some killer ideas that'll blow your mind."

"I sure hope so." said Darwood.

He got up and left. On his way out, he took out his cell phone and called Gilford. "Marcus, it's Malcolm. Weller's on board now. How's it coming with Paulsen?"

"Not as well." said Gilford. "He's nursing an injury from a tournament and can't help. However, he's recommended someone else. I'm going after him now."

Carl was doing internet research at the library. "Riley has numerous holdings in the area." he said to himself. "His headquarters could be anywhere. It's not like I have no time."

He left the library. Just then, Gilford pulled up in the XLR and lowered the top. "Excuse me, is your name Carl?"

"Who are you to ask?" asked Carl.

"My name is Marcus Gilford. I work for Malcolm Darwood doing...special consultant work."

"I heard about his plan to fight vampirism." said Carl. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Our plan needs security." said Gilford. "We need people who are motivated to protect this project from the vampires. They've already destroyed one of our labs and killed a guard. We're more than certain they're working for Riley, the head vampire responsible for what happened to your village."

Carl gave him a look.

"That's right, we've done our homework." said Gilford. "We have a dedicated hacker who did some research on you. He even found out you were using that computer at the library. That's how I was able to track you down."

"If I were to join your cause," said Carl "would I be called upon to eliminate some vampires at any time?"

"More than likely." said Gilford.

"You can tell Mr. Darwood I will help him." said Carl. "Just tell me when and where."

"Tomorrow at the Fox Industries building in Boulder Hill." said Gilford. "I'll tell security you're coming."

"I'll be there." said Carl.

----------

As night fell, the vampires were awoken.

Elizabeth opened her coffin and sat up. "Not a bad day's rest." she said.

Minutes later, she, Laura, and Malloy were in Riley's office. Malloy now wore a red jumpsuit with black stripes.

"I hope you're all properly rested." said Riley.

"When you sunburn really easily, there's not much else you can do but rest." said Malloy.

"The plan is to wait another couple of hours." said Riley. "Then, the humans will be less rested. That's when we perform a raid on one of the labs and destroy the research."

"Did you say ONE of the labs?" asked Elizabeth.

"Yes, I said one." said Riley. "MASK has most likely spread their forces a little thinner. Attacking these forces should be no problem, so I thought we didn't really need a large force."

"So, it's just us then." said Laura.

"Exactly." said Riley. "You are to attack the laboratory at Boulder Hill Community College."

"Any ideas on the protection there?" asked Malloy.

"Not yet." said Riley. "Take some backup with you and you'll be fine."

"Alright!" cheered Laura. "We're gonna show them!"

"Pick your men carefully." said Riley.

Laura got up and left the office with Riley.

"I'm a little concerned about Laura." said Elizabeth. "Is she old enough to drive?"

"She was turned at twenty-four." said Malloy.

"I was referring to her mental age." said Elizabeth.

"Don't worry." said Malloy. "She'll do fine."

----------

Hours later, the Rhino and Ape were parked in Boulder Hill Community College's parking lot.

Wei was the only one awake. Alex and Max had both gone to sleep. Wei checked his watch, then shook Alex awake.

"No school." muttered Alex as he drifted awake. "Oh, is it time for my shift already?"

"Already?" asked Wei. "It's two in the morning. We're practically the only ones awake here."

"Not quite." said Alex as he pointed to the gymnasium. "One of the frats decided to hold a party tonight. Not the brightest move, but what do you expect from a frat?"

"Well, wake me at sunrise or when there's some action." said Wei as he started to curl up and go to sleep.

"Wait." said Alex.

Wei sat up. "It's about flippin' time." he said as he watched a pair of vehicles approach.

He pressed a switch and his mask slid over his head.

"Wake Max." said Alex.

Wei nodded, then pulled the truck's air horn.

"I said 'Wake Max', not the whole college." said Alex.

"It's a community college." said Wei. "No one lives on campus."

Max quickly woke up, saw the vehicles, and pressed the mask button. "Are those the vampires?" he asked.

Alex took a better look at the vehicles. "No, dash it." he said. "It's VENOM."

The vehicles turned out to be the Jackhammer and Rax's Focus. Dagger and Rax climbed out. The MASK agents followed suit.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" asked Dagger.

"We're protecting Darwood's anti-vampire project." said Wei.

"We'd just about ask you the same thing." said Max.

"Who's your new guy?" asked Rax.

Max started to respond, but Alex cut him off with "We don't use our names around you."

"Beat it, we got this one." said Dagger.

"Mayhem sent you two?" asked Wei. "I doubt it."

"Maybe you should let us back you up." said Max.

"Us get help from MASK?" asked Rax. "Dream on!"

Just outside the campus, Elizabeth led the way on her motorcycle. Laura was close behind in a pearlescent gold/black Audi TT with Celtic artwork across the sides in white. The car also had an ABT-Sportsline body kit and Lowenhart LT8 rims.

Malloy was just behind them in a Honda Civic Si. The car was painted in green/black pearlescent and had yellow lightning bolts across the sides. The car was affixed with an Extreme Dimensions Raven body kit, an Extreme Dimensions Bomber spoiler, and Enkei SCO3 rims.

A van brought up the rear carrying a dozen vampires.

"There's the college." said Elizabeth. They entered the parking lot and slowed down when they saw the MASK and VENOM vehicles.

"Oh no!" said Laura. "What are THEY doing here?"

"Relax, we knew about MASK." said Elizabeth. "VENOM's not much of a problem, though."

Unfortunately, Wei's use of the air horn attracted some attention from the frat party. A few students went outside to investigate.

"Okay, here's the plan." said Elizabeth. "Malloy, the troops, and I will battle MASK and VENOM while you enter the lab and capture the research."

"I'll do my best." said Laura.

"Now, move out." said Elizabeth.

The MASK and VENOM agents continued arguing.

"I don't see why you even need to be here." said Wei. "It's not like VENOM has a reason to fight vampires."

"Hey, I can give you THREE reasons!" said Dagger. "Namely..."

"Dagger, don't mention that three of our agents are now vampires!" said Rax. "Like I just did." he moaned when he realized what he said.

"Uh, guys." said Max. "We've got company."

Elizabeth and Malloy raced over in their vehicles.

"It's the Nightbird and the Nightwolf." said Alex.

"The Nightwolf?" said Rax. "So, Malloy's come out to play."

"Let's do the same." said Dagger. He pointed the Jackhammer at the approaching vehicles and activated the transformation sequence. The hood slid up over the windshield, the grill dropped to reveal a pair of guns, and the rear of the cabin elevated to become a gun turret with a pair of cannons.

Wei and Max followed suit. Wei activated the Rhino's transformation sequence. The diesel stacks lowered to become cannons, the grill moved forward, and the sleeper cab pulled back to reveal a missile launcher.

"How do I change this thing?" asked Max.

"Red button." said Alex.

Max pushed the red button on his dashboard. "Oh." he said as the Ape transformed. The passenger compartment rose and a pair of weapons pods extended from the sides. Each weapons pod had a pair of guns and a rocket launcher. The spoiler elevated to become a radar scanner.

"Time to show them the Caribe." said Rax as he activated the Caribe's transformation. The hood rose slightly to reveal a pair of guns while the rear windows extended to the sides to reveal rockets.

Max looked at the transformed Caribe, confused at the simple result. "It's more impressive in the water." said Rax.

"Looks like a fight." said Malloy. He transformed the Nightwolf. The front end extended forward a little, the sides flipped up to reveal cannons, and the trunk section flipped up to become a missile launcher.

Elizabeth then transformed the Nightbird. The cowling split to become wings, the front fork retracted to reveal a pair of laser blasters, and the motor assembly rotated to reveal a jet engine and missiles.

"Oh great." said Wei. "I knew we should have brought anti-air units."

"Can this thing take on aerial threats?" asked Max.

"Yes, just pull back on the joystick." said Alex.

"I thought he trained with that last month." said Wei as the Ape's cannons aimed for the sky.

"He did." said Alex. "Doesn't appear to be a solid learner."

Max fired on the Nightbird while Rax and Dagger engaged the Nightwolf.

"Hey, guys." said Malloy. "How have you been? Mayhem still dishing out orders?"

"What do you want, Malloy?" asked Rax. "If you're here to destroy Darwood's research, you're gonna have to get through us first."

"We'll see." said Malloy.

While the battle continued, Laura parked her car next to the doors and exited.

"Now, to get that information for Mr. Riley." she said.

She pulled open the door and entered the building.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Wei as he noticed Max and the VENOM agents were dominating the firefight.

"There's really not much we can do." said Alex. "Malloy's tied up with Rax and Dagger and Max has a hold on Winters. Hold on." He checked his computer. "Uh oh, it appears we have a group of innocents out there."

"Vampires in pursuit?" asked Wei.

"Definitely." said Alex.

"Can't do much in the Rhino." said Wei. "We'll have to go out there on foot."

"Then let's go." said Alex.

The two then jumped out and ran through the battlefield to the area they saw the innocents. It turned out that some of the guests from the frat party that had ventured out to get a closer look were now under attack by the vampires that were backing up Elizabeth, Malloy, and Laura.

"Let go!" yelled a young man to the vampire engaged in handlock with him. Another student who looked like he was on the football team (probably because he was) tackled the attacking vampire, then joined his fellow student in escape.

Rax realized Dagger was holding his own against Malloy and broke off the attack to see what Alex and Wei were going after.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Dagger.

"Something's happening over here." said Rax.

A female student tried to escape a vampire by climbing on top of a six-foot high wall. The vampire had her foot, so she couldn't escape. Wei changed that by ramming his shoulder into the vampire's back. After the vampire was knocked to the ground, the girl escaped.

"Nice move." said Alex.

"Thanks." said Wei.

"No!" yelled another student. He was trapped between two vampires.

Rax pulled up in the Caribe and climbed out. "Stiletto, fire!" he called. A series of darts fired from his mask and hit one vampire in the back. After he crumpled to the ground, the student elbowed the other in the stomach and ran.

"Help me!" yelled a female student as she was surrounded by two pairs of vampires.

"Shall we?" asked Wei.

"Let's." said Alex. "Jackrabbit, on!" He flew into the air and grabbed the girl out of harm's way.

"Now that she's safe..." said Wei. "Dragon, fire!"

A gout of flame shot from the mouthpiece of his mask. The vampires who were attacking the girl were incinerated.

Dagger was watching the happenings. "Copycat." he muttered.

"Are you alright?" asked Alex.

"No, I'm afraid of heights." said the girl.

"Sorry about that." said Alex. He started for the ground when something caught his eye.

Elizabeth flew in on another attack run. This time, Max scored a hit on her engine. "Gotcha!" he cheered.

Elizabeth checked her instruments and discovered her engine was giving out. "Malloy, my engine's out." she said. "I have to put down. Over."

"I read you." said Malloy. "Get out of here."

Alex returned to the ground and released the girl. "You should be safe now." he said.

"Hey, when I said 'I'm afraid of heights'?" she said. "What I meant was 'Thanks for saving my life.'"

"All in a day's work." said Alex.

"There's still a few vampires left." said Wei.

"We've got another problem." said Alex. "While I was bringing the girl back to Earth, I saw the Night Bandit next to the door."

"You mean the Val is involved?" asked Wei.

"Guys, I'm down a target." said Max over the radio. "The guy in the Exped has the guy in the Civic. What do I do?"

"We have a report of another vampire sneaking into the building itself." said Alex. "She might be after Darwood's research. I'm going to have to ask you to go in and stop her, but don't kill her. You need to plant the bug on her car and let her return to base."

"Roger, I'm on it." said Max. He jumped out of the Ape and ran for the door.

"Wait, you didn't have to do send him into the building." said Wei.

"Yes, I did." said Alex. "She's after the research and we're tied up with the other vamps."

"No, that's not it." said Wei. "While you were asleep, I went in and got the research. I hid it in the Rhino's ATV."

Alex looked at Wei, then at the building. "Oh blast." he said.

Max ran up to the Audi, started to reach for the bug, then looked to the entrance of the building. Instead of planting the bug, he entered the building.

He snuck through the building, tracking Laura. He walked past a display case for trophys which was broken open. Two of the trophys, both of which were shaped like people, were arranged in a passionate embrace.

"That's either the work of the vampire," said Max "or a student I'd really like to know."

He continued sneaking down the hall until he found a door that was open. He quietly made his way up to the door and looked inside. The room was completely ransacked.

"Whoa, she went to town on this room!" whispered Max.

"Sneak attack!" called Laura as she pounced on Max from a hiding place.

Max stumbled around with Laura on his back for a few seconds, then performed a judo throw. She was thrown across the room, but she took his mask with her.

She got back on her feet and looked at him. "You're cute." she said.

"Uh, thanks." said Max. "So are you in a macabre sort of way."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means you are pretty cute if a little scary." said Max.

"No, what does 'macabre' mean?" asked Laura.

"I...don't have my dictionary with me right now." said Max. "Where's the research?"

"What does it look like?" asked Laura.

"You're asking me?" he asked. "Are you saying you didn't find it?"

"Maybe." she said. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for."

"Max, can you hear me?" asked Alex over the radio.

"Go ahead, Lex." said Max.

"Are you alone?" asked Alex.

"Not at the moment." said Max. "What is up with this girl? She acts like a child."

"Hey, stop being mean!" said Laura.

"Oh, I see you've met her." said Alex.

"She hasn't found the research." said Max.

"I know." said Alex. "It was moved to, uh, a different room."

"Got it." said Max. "I'm pulling out now."

"Careful of that lass." said Alex.

"Careful of her?" asked Max. "She doesn't seem like too much of a threat."

"Back in the eighties, we had a motto." said Alex. "It was 'Illusion is the ultimate weapon.' She might be more threatening than she looks."

"Um, okay." said Max. "Could I have my mask back?" he asked Laura. "I have to go now. Nice talking with you."

"Are you off to find the research?" asked Laura. "Maybe we can go together."

"Not this time." said Max. "Perhaps later? See ya."

He turned to leave, but Laura had other ideas. She pounced on his back again. "Sorry, but you have to help me find that research." she said.

"I just told you." said Max. "I can't help you find it. It's against my mission."

"I can fix that." said Laura. She extended her fangs, then sank them into Max's neck. He let out a scream combining terror and pain. He also had his radio on.

"Max!" yelled Alex into his own radio. "Max! Bollocks!"

Wei looked at him in shocked guilt.

Elizabeth looked over the Nightbird. She managed to get it back into drivable condition. Her radio came to life.

"Liz? Liz? Are you there?" asked Laura.

"Go ahead, Laura." said Elizabeth.

"I looked for the research, but I couldn't find it." said Laura as she stood over Max's unconcious body. "But I met this guy working for MASK and gave him a bite. Is that okay?"

"That's great." said Elizabeth.

AN:In case you haven't guessed, the new VENOM agents in this chapter would have been the Foxes in MASK 2. Just a reminder as to who they are:

Frank Kelly-Blades.  
Cassidy Lucas-Flash.  
Calvin Lucas-Gearbox.  
Richard Bates-Rocks.  
Charlie Weller-Dr. Frankenstein.

Thank you. We shall go on.


	4. Inside Man

MASK: Fangs 

Chapter 4:Inside Man

Max regained conciousness a few hours later.

"Where am I?" he asked himself.

"Oh good, you're up." said Laura. "Now, you can help us find the research."

"It's a little late for that, Laura." said Elizabeth. "The sun's about to come up."

"Laura?" asked Max. "So, that's your name."

"Now, you have to tell me yours." said Laura.

"It's Max. Where am I?"

"You're at our headquarters." said Elizabeth.

"Who are you?" asked Max.

"My name is Elizabeth Winters. You might have heard of me around the water cooler."

"Not really." said Max. "This was my first day on the job."

"You are so fired." laughed Laura.

"And that's Laura Kennedy." said Elizabeth. "Don't mind her. She's like that."

"I get what you mean." said Max. "I have to get out of here."

"Now is not a good time for that." said Elizabeth.

"Sure, you don't want to get toasted." said Laura.

"What does that mean?" asked Max as he extended his hand for effect.

That's when he noticed his hand was as pale as Laura and Elizabeth. He looked at his other hand. It too was white as chalk. He put his hands together. They both felt cold to the touch.

He then looked to a mirror that was in the room. He saw the wall behind him, but not himself. He then ran his tongue over his upper jaw. He felt two fangs and confirmed his worst fears.

He put his hands to his forehead, collapsed against the wall, and screamed "I'm a monster!" However, he was completely unaware that the bug was still in his pocket and still broadcasting.

Outside, Scooter had parked the Naginata and was now listening in over his equipment. "Little easily scared, aren't you?" he remarked.

----------

As the sun came up, four black Chevy Suburbans raced across the Mojave Desert. Inside each were six people wearing black coveralls and bulletproof vests. The chest of the vests bore the initials of their organization: "FBI".

One of the men in the lead Suburban wore a jacket over his vest. The jacket identified him as the group's leader.

"Agent Lords?" asked someone over the radio.

"Go ahead." said the man in the jacket.

"We have a visual on the fortress." said the agent on the radio.

"I copy." said Lords as he looked at an old Spanish fort.

"How are we going to crack that?" asked a female agent in Lords' Suburban.

"Don't worry." said Lords. "We have a man on the inside."

On the battlement of the fortress, two guards watched the Suburbans approach. One of them said "I think we should warn Mendoza."

"I'll get right on it." said the other one, a Latino.

The Suburbans parked outside the fortress gates and the twenty-four FBI agents climbed out brandishing M4 assault rifles. Lords himself had a bullhorn. He used it to deliver a message to the occupants of the fortress.

"Pedro Mendoza, this is Agent Kyle Lords of the FBI! We have a warrant for your arrest on charges of drug trafficking! We can do this the easy way, which is you surrendering, or we can do this the hard way, which is us storming the place! What is your choice?"

"Just try getting in here!" yelled the guard.

"Okay, men." said Lords. "Let's get in there! Go!"

The Latino guard quickly hit the button that opened the main gates.

"What are you doing?" yelled the other guard.

"This just isn't your day." said the Latino guard as he pulled out an FBI badge.

Before the other guard could do anything, three of the FBI agents ran into the fortress. Two more trained their M4s on the guard.

Several more guards took aim at the agents only to be fired upon. A guard on the battlement was hit in the leg and fell to the roof below him. Another was pinned down by weapons fire and never got off a shot. A third saw one of the agents aim at him and quickly dropped his gun and surrendered.

The rest of the FBI agents made their way into the fortress. "Where's Mendoza?" asked Lords.

"I don't think he's up yet." said the Latino guard. "He's probably still in his quarters."

"Okay, we're going after him." said Lords. "I'd let you go home right now, but you know this fort better than the rest of us. Mailer, get Agent Sanchez a bulletproof vest and a rifle."

"Got it." said a female agent.

"I have to warn you though." said Agent Sanchez. "He's got a new bodyguard. This guy is HUGE."

"We can handle him." said Lords.

Mailer returned with a bulletproof vest and an M4. "Here you go, Jeremy." she said.

"Thank you." said Agent Sanchez.

A few minutes later, Jeremy, Lords, and four of the other agents made their way through the fortress.

"Mendoza's quarters are this way." said Jeremy.

They encountered another guard. He was taken completely by surprise and surrendered without a fight. One of the agents turned the guard against the wall and handcuffed him.

The agents came to a pair of doors. "This is it." said Jeremy.

"Cover us." said Lords to two of the agents. They turned and aimed down the hallway in different directions. Lords pounded on the door and said "Mendoza, we have a warrant for your arrest! If you don't surrender, we're coming in!"

They waited a few seconds for a response. After none came, Lords and Jeremy broke it open.

They saw a rather large vampire standing over Mendoza's body. The drug lord wasn't moving.

"What the..." said one agent.

"Craig?" asked Jeremy.

The large vampire dropped his jaw and bared his fangs.

"Boy, he sure can pick 'em." said the other agent.

The large vampire lunged towards them.

"Waste him!" yelled Lords. He, Jeremy, and the other two agents opened fire with their M4s. Despite being hit with a couple dozen rounds of ammo, the large vampire just shrugged it off.

"Scatter!" yelled Lords. The agents split up and spread around the room.

One of the agents stood near Mendoza's corpse and took aim at the large vampire. Before he could get off a shot, Mendoza grabbed him by the leg and tried to bite into it.

Jeremy and Lords took cover next to an armchair. "This isn't working." said Lords.

"Take out the skylight." said Jeremy as he pointed to a tinted skylight above them.

"Good thinking." said Lords.

He and Jeremy aimed at the skylight and opened fire with their M4s. The skylight started to crack with the hits, then completely collapsed. The room was quickly bathed in sunlight.

The two vampires recoiled from the light. Mendoza was forced to release the agent in the process. The large vampire crumpled to the floor as he and Mendoza burst into flames. The two were reduced to ash and charred bone within a minute. Luckily, the flames didn't spread.

The agent who had been grabbed by Mendoza checked his leg. "You alright?" asked the other agent.

"Yeah, he didn't get me." said the agent. "I'm okay."

Jeremy looked at the bones of the large vampire. "That was the bodyguard I was telling you about." said Jeremy. "His name was Craig Hudson."

"In any case, congratulations are in order." said Lords. "You've just taken part in the first ever FBI operation to end with the suspect becoming a vampire."

----------

At MASK headquarters, Alex and Wei stood around the briefing room. Wei was visibly upset while Alex simply looked troubled.

Gloria walked in. "Well, Tony is trying to comfort Liam." she said. "Unfortunately, you know Liam's not the kind to comfort easily."

"Max shouldn't have gone in there." said Wei. "I should have told you I moved the research to the Rhino before."

"Wei, stop beating yourself up." said Alex. "You didn't get the chance to tell me. It's not exactly the kind of thing you can work into combat plans."

"At least you guys weren't sitting around useless." said Gloria. "I was in town all night and the only action was when I got into a street race with Bruno Sheppard. Jerk still owes me five hundred bucks."

Hondo, Julio, and Julie walked in then. "I heard about Max." said Hondo. "What happened?"

"He went into the college to prevent Darwood's research from being stolen." said Alex. "While he was in there, he got jumped by a vampire and bitten."

"Worse yet, it was the Val." said Wei.

"Who's the Val?" asked Julie.

"She's a vampire in her early twenties." said Julio. "Or at least she was when she was turned. She has some kind of mental challenge. We call her 'The Val' as in 'valley girl'."

"Ah." said Julie.

"Did she get the research?" asked Hondo.

"No, Wei went in and got it before the vamps showed up." said Alex.

"We turned it over to Matt and Bruce." said Wei. "They took it to Nevada. He's probably used it to further his research already."

----------

"What do you mean this research is completely fake?" asked Matt. He and Bruce were standing in a science lab somewhere.

"I meant just what I said." said Nevada. "This research is completely fraudulent."

"Why would Darwood hype this research when it's all fake?" asked Matt.

"The bigger the carrot, the bigger the trap." said Bruce.

"I agree with Bruce." said Nevada. "Darwood was apparently using this alleged research to lure the vampires into a trap."

"It looks like he's interested in destroying the vampires instead of helping them." said Matt.

"I think he might have resigned himself to the fact that the vampires are beyond redemption." said Bruce.

"That I disagree with." said Nevada. "According to Michael, the transformation might be reversible."

"Is that so?" asked Matt.

"I believe it is." said a younger Native American wearing a lab coat. "In my years of scientific research, I have noticed that many processes can be reversed if you find the original cause."

"And you believe this is no different?" asked Matt.

"If we only knew what started all this, we might be able to put a stop to it." said Michael.

"Well, in that area, I wish you luck." said Matt.

Bruce looked at a group of vampires in cages. They all wore biker clothing.

"Are these the vampire biker gang that attacked?" he asked.

"They are the survivors of that attack." said Nevada. "If we manage to develop a cure for vampirism, they will be our test subjects. I know it's not exactly humane, but we have no choice."

"I know." said Matt.

Matt and Bruce left the laboratory and exited a building in the middle of a Native American reservation.

"Liam is not going to like that his cousin was bitten while going after false research." said Matt. "It's bad enough that we brought him in at all."

"If we tell him this, he'll probably want to go after Darwood himself." said Bruce. "I'm actually thinking of asking if he wants help."

"We're going to need new operatives all the same." said Matt.

----------

Back at headquarters, Tony entered the briefing room looking rather shaken.

"How'd it go?" asked Julie.

"About as well as can be expected." said Tony. "That is to say 'not well'."

"Great, now we've got two operatives out." said Wei.

"Alex, have you heard from Scooter yet?" asked Julio.

"Not yet." said Alex. "He found the place, but the vampires turned in hours ago. He decided to do the same."

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Hondo.

"Max's capture forced us to alter our plans." said Alex. "In the case that Max remembers the bug and destroys it when he turns, we had to have Scooter follow him immediately. That way, we can get as much information as we can before that happens."

"He's going right into enemy hands." said Gloria.

"He was willing to take that risk from the start." said Alex. "He's a gutsy one, I say."

Julie's cell phone went off. She checked the caller ID. "It's Agent Lords." she said. She answered it.

"Who's Agent Lords?" asked Wei.

"He's partenered with Jeremy Sanchez." said Gloria. "That's the guy she keeps asking to join the team. However, he's currently tied up with an undercover assignment."

"Yes! That's perfect!" said Julie. "Yes, please! Put him on!"

"What's going on?" asked Alex.

"The Mendoza case has been resolved." said Julie. "Jeremy is now free to join us."

"That's great." said Tony.

"Jeremy?" said Julie into her cell phone.

----------

"Hey, what's up, Jul?" asked Jeremy. He was in the courtyard of Mendoza's fortress. All around him were guards being arrested by the FBI agents. Surprisingly, Mendoza and Craig were the only fatalities.

"Jeremy, do you have any experience fighting vampires?" asked Julie.

Jeremy looked at the two body bags containing the remains of Mendoza and Craig. "Not really." he said.

"That's what our group is up to right now." said Julie. "We need someone who can handle rather dangerous operations. I know this is pretty soon after you've taken Mendoza into custody."

Jeremy watched several other agents looking at Mendoza's charred bones. They looked on in shock. "Yeah." said Jeremy. "Luckily, he's not going anywhere for a long time."

"Well, what I was wondering was if you would consider joining us." said Julie. "I know you have the skill set to handle the mission and we're always in need of new members."

"Have you cleared this with the director?" asked Jeremy.

"All clear." said Julie.

"Where should we meet?" asked Jeremy.

"There's a gas station outside of Boulder Hill, Nevada." said Julie. "That's where you should go."

"Okay, I'll meet you there." said Jeremy.

"Good, see you soon." said Julie. She hung up and said "Jeremy's on his way. Can we try to prolong his safety?"

"Your friend's safety is assured to the best of our ability." said Julio.

"I think we could use a little more backup." said Gloria as she took out her cell phone.

----------

The mercenaries hired by Darwood and Gilford gathered in a building.

"So, you guys were also called into action by Mr. Darwood." said Carl. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with a blue midsection and no sleeves.

"We sure were." said Weller. "Does anyone know where we are?" He wore a black jumpsuit with yellow stripes.

"This is the sub-basement for Fox Industries headquarters." said Calvin. "I bet he stuck us down here so his regular employees wouldn't run across us." He was wearing an orange jumpsuit with a red abdominal area and shoulders.

"They're not here anyway." said Darwood as he, Gilford, and Mayhem entered. "I gave them a three-day weekend due to the attack on the lab."

"Nice lineup, Darwood." said Mayhem. "They look like they can cause some damage."

"Front and center!" yelled Gilford. His outfit was a dark blue jumpsuit with black stripes.

A tough-looking dark-haired man stood at the far left end of the line. He wore a tan jumpsuit with yellow sleeves and midsection. To the right were Kelly, Calvin, his sister, Weller, and Carl. Kelly was still in his street clothes: blue jeans, a white t-shirt with a helicopter on it, and a blue jacket. Calvin's sister wore a blue jumpsuit with yellow and white stripes on it.

Darwood walked past them and said "Meet Richard Bates, Frank Kelly, Calvin Lucas, his sister Cassidy Lucas, Charlie Weller, and..." He drew a blank on Carl's name.

"You may call me Carl." he said.

"Very well, Carl." said Darwood. "You may proceed, Miles."

"Lady and gentlemen," said Mayhem "you have been chosen for an upcoming battle against an enemy that has much power of supernatural origin. Your individual skills along with our provided equipment will give you an edge. The question I ask is 'can you work with us to defeat our enemy?'"

"Just so we're clear," asked Cassidy "this supernatural enemy we're fighting is vampires, right?"

"Yes." said Mayhem.

"Thought so." said Cassidy.

"What have I gotten myself into?" moaned Kelly.

"Now, as I have mentioned," said Mayhem "we have a few vehicles for you to use in battle. Come this way to receive them."

He and Darwood led the group into the parking garage. There, they found seven vehicles.

"Whoa." said Calvin.

"Nice." said Cassidy.

"Weller, this will be your car." said Darwood as he laid his hand on a black Mini Cooper with silver graphics that looked like blades. The car was also fitted with an Erebuni Shogun body kit, an Erebuni spoiler, and 5Zigen Supersix rims. "We call this car the Roach. I think you'll like it."

"Thanks." said Weller.

"Cassidy, you'll thank me for this." said Darwood as he approached a blue Koenigsegg CCR. The car featured chrome Giovanna Gello rims, graphics showing a black cheetah running across a white plain, and a custom made spoiler. "You're driving this car, the Cannonball."

"I could be bitten and I'll still be glad I joined you." said Cassidy.

"Kelly, you've got the Tornado here." said Darwood. He pointed to a two-tone red and white '56 Chevy Nomad. Aside from the chrome trim, the only other visual modification were the Cragar Series 61 rims.

Darwood walked past a red Aston Martin Vanquish and went right up to a silver Toyota FJ Cruiser. "This is your vehicle, Bates, the Jackal." said Darwood. The truck had a Road Armor brushguard, a roof rack, jerry cans in a rack on the tailgate, graphics resembling a rocky embankment, and Mickey Thompson Classic II rims with off-road tires.

"Carl, you get this truck." said Darwood. He pointed to a dark grey Jeep Commander with a Fabtech brushguard, graphics of a spooky forest at night, and Colorado Custom Denver rims with off-road tires. "We call it the Zombie."

"Nice name." said Carl.

"Finally, we have your vehicle, Calvin." said Darwood. In front of them was a dark purple bus with "Reynard" spray painted on the sides in red paint. Below that in white letters was "World Tour".

"If I remember my French, 'Reynard' means Fox." said Calvin.

"You recall correctly." said Darwood. "The vehicle itself is called the Piledriver."

"Sweet." said Calvin.

"What about this one?" asked Gilford when he looked at the Aston Martin.

"That's mine." said Darwood as he walked over to the red metallic car. On the sides were white and black tribal graphics and the rims were mounted with gold Maya MRS rims. "I call it the Fox."

"No surprises there." said Gilford.

"Come, gentlemen." said Darwood. "Let's get you your next piece of equipment."

----------

That afternoon, Matt and Bruce returned to MASK headquarters.

"Bad news." said Matt. "The research was fake."

"Hopefully, Scooter can get more information from the tracking device." said Gloria.

"At least some good is coming out of this." said Matt. "I think I might have to talk about the situation with Liam."

"The man's been through a lot." said Tony. "I think you should give him some time to heal a little."

"Yes, you're right." said Matt. "Alex, did Scooter find the vampires' headquarters or get any information?"

"He has a location." said Alex. "Get ready for this. Max never planted the bug. It's still on his person."

"What?" said Bruce.

"And it's picked up so much." said Alex. "Max apparently didn't take too well to his transformation."

"Maybe there's still some of him in there." said Julie.

"Maybe a lot." said Alex as the door opened. "Also, we found out the name of 'The Val'."

"You'd better not be talking about me."

Everyone looked to see Caitlin had entered.

"Guys, this is the new possible I mentioned." said Gloria. "Her name is Caitlin Horowitz. She's a race car driver. She might even be better than me."

"Better than you?" asked Caitlin. "No way."

"Alex, you said you had a name for 'The Val'." said Matt.

"Laura Kennedy." said Alex.

"Look her up." said Matt. "It might not help much, but you never know."

----------

A couple of hours later, it was late afternoon. Caitlin had been briefed on the situation.

"And that's what's going on now." said Matt.

"I know what your friend Liam is going through." said Caitlin. "I'm sure Gloria filled you in on my cousin Adam."

"I did." said Gloria.

"Look, I don't want you to think I'm out for revenge." said Caitlin. "I just want to prevent a repeat for some other family."

"I'm sure you do." said Matt. "All of us have friends and family we want to keep safe."

"Shall we take a look at the car?" asked Gloria.

"I was hoping you'd ask." said Caitlin.

The three of them walked out to the garage. The Wyvern was right in front of them.

"She still looks beautiful." said Caitlin.

"And she's yours." said Gloria.

"Is that your latest vehicle?" asked Caitlin.

"It's one of them." said Matt.

One of the FBI's black Suburbans rolled down the entrance ramp.

"Here comes the driver of the other one now." said Matt.

The Suburban parked and Jeremy climbed out of the passenger seat.

"Agent Sanchez, nice of you to join us." said Matt.

"Julie twisted my arm." said Jeremy. "She's told me a lot about what you're doing. I'd like to see what I can do to help."

"The briefing takes a while." said Caitlin. "I hope you're up for it."

"She's right." said Matt. "I think we should see how you do on the test track first."

"Okay, sounds fair." said Jeremy. "So, what am I driving?"

"We finished it recently." said Buddie. "It's right over here."

He led Jeremy to a blue '05 Ford Mustang. The car sported a Steeda front fascia, cowl induction hood, race wing, and Pentar chrome wheels. Silver stripes ran down the sides.

"Nice." said Jeremy. "What do you call it?"

"We actually never came up with a name." said Enzo. "We were just finishing up work on it when the Wyvern was commissioned. We then kind of put it on the back burner."

"I'll tell you what." said Buddie. "Since you're going to be driving it, maybe you should come up with a name."

"Hmmm." said Jeremy. "Well, since I am of Mexican descent and we are fighting vampires, I think we should call it...the Chupacabra."

"The Mexican goat-sucker." laughed Enzo.

"The Chupacabra it is." said Buddie.

"Okay, Caitlin." said Matt. "Since you have experience as race driver, I think it's only appropriate that you take to the track with Gloria. And since you have a history with Julie, you will be teamed with her, Jeremy."

"It's a dream come true." said Caitlin.

"I'll do my best to get him acquainted." said Julie.

The agents went to their respective cars.

"Jul, I'm sorry." said Jeremy. "I heard about your father. I just couldn't believe it when I heard."

"Thanks, that's what everybody's been telling me." said Julie. "It's been a little hard these past few months, but I'm managing."

"I've heard so much about him at the office." said Jeremy. "He was quite an agent."

"Yes, he was." said Julie. "I've got a bit of a reputation to live up to."

The agents climbed into their cars.

"There's a bit of equipment I don't recognize." said Caitlin.

"I see you know your Lamborghini interiors." said Gloria.

"Are you kidding?" asked Caitlin. "I know my Lamborghini part numbers."

She and Jeremy started their cars. They drove to the test track Gloria had taken the Wyvern to the previous day.

"Careful, Jeremy." said Julie. "That Lamborghini's gonna blow you into the weeds."

"Probably." said Jeremy. "But I bet I can make it through the last turn a little faster."

"I'd pay to see that." said Julie.

Caitlin pulled alongside the Chupacabra and rolled down her window. "I think I'll give you a head start." she said.

"Why, thank you." said Jeremy.

Jeremy eased the Chupacabra onto the track. Caitlin was right behind him in the Wyvern.

"Ready." said Jeremy. "And go!"

Jeremy floored the accelerator and the car took off. He went into the first turn and slowed it down.

"Definitely faster than a stock Mustang." said Jeremy.

"You're going to find out this is far from stock." said Julie.

Thirty seconds after Jeremy started, he was weaving through the chicanes. Also, Caitlin decided she'd given him enough of a head start and started herself.

Jeremy was crossing the bridge as Caitlin was making it through the first turn. She managed to race through the chicanes as Jeremy poured on the speed towards the bridge.

"I'm on your six." said Caitlin as she looked at the Chupacabra below her.

"Wow, she's catching up fast." said Jeremy as he looked up at the Wyvern crossing the bridge.

"The final turn is right after the tunnel." said Julie. "Are you sure you can make it through faster than her?"

"Watch me." said Jeremy. "Just make sure you have your seatbelt on."

Jeremy raced into the tunnel. When he was halfway through, Caitlin entered.

"Let's see how that modern muscle takes a high-speed sweeper." said Gloria.

Jeremy exited the tunnel and raced towards the final turn. Caitlin was right behind him.

"Shouldn't he be slowing down more than that?" asked Gloria.

"Hang on." said Jeremy. He turned the wheel sharply and the tail end of the Chupacabra angled sharply away from the car's path.

"Whoa!" said Caitlin.

"What are you doing?" yelled Julie as she held the armrest in a death grip.

"Drifting." said Jeremy.

Jeremy came out of the turn and straightened out on the final stretch. Caitlin was right behind him and tried to return to top speed. She finally managed to pass him a couple of seconds before they crossed the finish line.

The two cars slowed to a halt and parked next to each other.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" asked Caitlin.

"I once had to infiltrate a street racing circle." said Jeremy. "This was just as drifting was catching on in the U.S. So naturally, I had to pick it up."

"Pick it up you did." said Gloria.

"Come on, I still have some things to teach you about this car." said Julie.

"Want to do more drifting?" asked Jeremy.

"Okay, but just this once." said Julie.

----------

As night fell, Scooter was woken up by an alarm in the Naginata. He bolted awake and noticed the sunset. "I guess I'm just in time." he said. He turned on the surveilance system in the Naginata and donned a pair of headphones.

Inside the mansion ahead of him, the residents were waking up.

Riley climbed out of his coffin and was approached by Melissa. "Riley, I was thinking of what Laura was talking about this morning." she said. "MASK got their hands on Darwood's research last night, so we should probably go after one of the other stations to retrieve another set."

"I agree." said Riley. "However, last night was a mistake. We waited until the humans would be tired and they used the time to hide the research. Our plan came back to bite us, so to speak. Tonight, we should attack first chance we get."

"Now I agree." said Melissa. "We'll get our troops to attack one of the stations."

"You will go." said Riley. "So will Gorey, Malloy, and Vanessa, who will be leading you."

"Will that be enough?" asked Melissa.

"I hope so." said Riley. "Elizabeth, Laura, and Malloy were barely enough last night."

----------

Elsewhere, Max was waking up. He climbed out of his coffin and said "That was too creepy for words."

He walked out of the sleeping area to where the other vampires were gathered. He looked at the crowd of undead and shuddered.

"You don't belong here either, huh?"

Max turned to see who said that. He saw it was...

"Brad Turner?" asked Max. "The rock star? What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it." said Brad. "However, I have to."

"You were one of the biggest rockers of the 80s." said Max. "Right up there with Benatar and Mellencamp."

"Now, I'm just another undead freak." said Brad.

"How did this happen?" asked Max.

"Twenty years ago." said Brad. "I got attacked by Riley as he was escaping his castle. You?"

"Laura did this last night." said Max. "Girl's got the mind of a child. Doesn't say much good about me, does it?"

"Oh yeah. Laura." said Brad. "Once a medical student, now a servant of the undead."

"What?" asked Max. "SHE was a medical student?"

"She was." said Brad. "She had an intense fear of vampires as a human. When she was bitten, it caused her mind to snap and regress to that of a little girl."

"Poor thing." said Max.

"We all are." said Brad.

"Hey, shouldn't you be out vamping or something?" asked Max.

"I gave my assistance to Riley for as long as I could." said Brad. "After he had enough operatives to go into action instead of me, I just let them."

"Why don't you go out?" asked Max.

"I don't really like hunting humans." said Brad. "This nature was forced upon me. I'm sure you know what I mean."

"I know exactly what you mean." said Max. "Does Riley know?"

"Thankfully, no." said Brad. "If he knew I was out of his control, I'd be set upon by his loyal followers. I've tried to form an alliance among vampires who would rather be human again, but even they might not be able to protect me."

"How do you know who's resisting and who's giving in?" asked Max.

"If you look carefully, you can tell." said Brad. "Forget what you've read in Anne Rice novels. We can't read minds, so don't try. Try reading faces instead."

"Who would be a good example?" asked Max.

"That one over there." said Brad as he motioned to a male vampire with a bald head.

"He looks like he's enjoying himself." said Max. "I'm guessing he's accepting his nature?"

"You guess right." said Brad. "You win a second test. Her." He pointed to a female vampire with black hair and glasses.

"I can see she seems to be enjoying herself." said Max. "But she keeps looking away concerned. She wants a pulse again, doesn't she?"

"She does." said Brad. "She's part of my alliance."

"Can you point out the other members of your alliance?" asked Max.

"I'd rather not." said Brad. "It might give away my intentions."

"We could at least hook up with my group." said Max. "They're doing their best to fight the vampires. They could use an advantage like this."

"I wish it were that simple." said Brad. "Unfortunately, most humans have a strong distrust of us. Establishing a link with them could be a bit iffy."

"You never know until you try." said Max. "Try getting in touch with them. It just might work."

"I'll tell you what." said Brad as he took out his cell phone. "You give it a try. Call someone you can trust. See how far you get."

Max took the cell phone and asked "How about my cousin?"

"Why not?" asked Brad.

Max dialled Liam's number on the cell phone, then held it up to his ear. After a couple of rings, he heard someone pick up. "Liam, it's Max. I'm in serious..." he said before being cut off by Liam chewing him out. He ended up staring at the cell phone in shock.

"So, what did he say?" asked Brad as he held out his hand.

"Well, if I clean it up, it really isn't a sentence." said Max as he handed the phone back to him.

----------

"Laura Kennedy." said Alex as he looked at the computer screen. "Born in Boston on April 18, 1980. She was a medical student at UCLA in 2004 when she mysteriously disappeared. It was long considered she was taken by the vampires since they had attacked the UCLA campus the night she disappeared."

"Now, we have proof." said Matt as he looked at the screen. "What was Kennedy's field of research at UCLA?"

"According to this, she was studying hemotology." said Alex.

"Blood work." said Matt. "That might have made her a target."

"I think so as well." said Alex. "It was said that she was working on finding a cure for vampirism at the time."

"Have you heard from Scooter?" asked Matt.

"He relayed some information about half an hour ago." said Alex. "Max still has the bug on him. Get ready for this: he ran across Brad. Neither of them has really given into vampirism. I think they might still be loyal to us."

"If they are, that's a pleasant surprise." said Matt. "Does Max remember he has the bug on him?"

"I'm not sure." said Alex. "I do know he tried to call Liam. Did not go well."

"I can imagine." said Matt.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and discover their battle plans for tonight." said Alex.

"I don't see the point of that." said Matt. "We've already seen that Darwood's plan is bogus. We've already lost one agent to this red herring. I don't..."

He turned to leave, then saw Liam in the doorway and stopped.

"I'll kill him." spat Liam as he marched away.

"Liam, wait!" yelled Matt.

"Blast!" yelled Alex.

Matt pushed the switch on an intercom and said "MASK agents, this is an emergency! Report to the briefing room at once!"

Tony, Jeremy, and Caitlin were in the briefing room already. Jeremy had changed into a black and red jumpsuit while Caitlin now wore a white skirt and a red and white jacket.

"Does emergency mean what it usually means here?" asked Jeremy.

"Yes." said Tony.

"Okay, just checking." said Jeremy.

----------

Buddie and Enzo were in the vehicle bay looking over vehicle designs.

"I think this one could use a decent body kit and possibly a graphics package." said Buddie as he looked at a drawing of a Saturn Ion.

"Nice." said Enzo. He showed Buddie a drawing of a Fiat Coupe and said "I think this could do with a custom made spoiler and a fish of prey painted on the nose. You like?"

They heard the door on the upper level fly open. "What was that?" asked Buddie.

"I'll check it out." said Enzo.

As Enzo went off to investigate the door, the intercom crackled to life. "Buddie, are you there?" asked Matt.

"What's going on?" asked Buddie.

"Liam found out Darwood's plan was a fraud." said Matt. "He's going on the warpath."

Enzo let out a scream of terror as he went tumbling down the stairs to the door. Liam ran down after him.

"Liam." said Buddie.

They locked eyes for a second, then Liam ran to the Tempest and climbed in. Within seconds, he had it started and drove off.

"Why did you let him go like that?" asked Enzo as he got up.

"If there's one thing I've learned about Liam," said Buddie "it's you don't get in his way when he's angry."

"I wish you'd told me that a minute ago." said Enzo.

"Look at it this way." said Buddie. "If he thinks I'm not chasing him, he doesn't suspect I'm chasing him."

He and Enzo ran over to the Firecracker and climbed in.

"Are we going to fight them?" asked Enzo.

"No, not tonight." said Buddie. "We're just going to chase him down and report his position to the others."

----------

"Thanks, Buddie." said Matt. "Buddie and Enzo are tracking Liam. I think we should go after him to keep him from causing too much damage."

"If it makes any difference," said Tony "I think I should go since he responds to me better than anyone else."

"Also, if he goes to the branch office," said Julie "I think Gloria and I should go since our vehicles are aquatic. The branch office was right on the coast of a lake."

"I agree." said Matt. "Alex, Wei, and Bruce will stay here and watch over the base. Caitlin and Jeremy, get ready for your first battle."

"Nervous?" asked Jeremy.

"Sort of." said Caitlin. "Okay, I am quite nervous."

"Don't worry, it'll pass." said Jeremy.

----------

At the branch office, the Caribe, Stinger, and Iguana were in the parking lot with the Tornado, Jackal, and Piledriver parked with them.

"Does standing guard like this always get this boring?" asked Calvin.

"No, we sometimes find a way to pass the time." said Sheppard. "Speaking of which, do you have $500 I can borrow?"

Melissa raced towards the branch office in her Crossfire. Malloy was right by her in the Nightwolf.

Warfield led the way in a Nissan 350Z with a purple/black color shift paint job. The car also sported a C-West body kit and Maxxim Venum rims. Like her previous vehicle, the Manta, a pair of greenish yellow stripes ran down each side. Around the front edge of the door, a diagonal stroke connected the stripes which also crossed at the rear edge of the door, giving the appearance of a "ZX".

Gorey was right behind them in a Pierce fire engine with red/black color shift paint and a silver flame job. Every part of the truck that wasn't originally red was now chome-plated, even the ladder.

The vehicles stopped a block from the office. "Looks like Mayhem's got some new flunkies." said Gorey.

"Ha, they don't look much better than the old ones." said Warfield.

"Shall we take them down regardless?" asked Malloy.

"Of course." said Warfield.

The vampires' vehicles drove into action. In the back of the Piledriver, Gilford looked over the detection systems. "I can't believe a first-rate assassin like me is stuck watching over the radar." he muttered. "Huh? Guys, we've got vampires approaching! Be on guard!"

The VENOM agents lined up to engage them.

Sludge looked at the approaching vehicles. He looked at Malloy's Civic. "The Nightwolf." he said. He looked at Warfield's 350Z. "The Nightshade." he said. He looked to Melissa's Crossfire. "The Night Terror." he said. He finally looked to Gorey's fire engine. "The Nightmare? Oh man!" he said.

"We can take them." said Calvin.

"Uh, yeah." said Kelly.

Sheppard converted the Stinger. The wheels rotated up to reveal tank treads while guns extended from the wheels themselves. A shield rose in front of the windshield with a mortar attached to it. The side skirts swung up to become laser cannons.

Sludge was next to convert his vehicle. The Iguana arched in the middle as the wheelbase contracted. The hood flipped forward and revealed a saw blade attached to a long arm and a pair of cannons. The rear hatch opened to reveal another saw blade and a pair of jet thrusters.

Bates converted the Jackal next. The roof rack flipped forward and the brush guard extended to become a pair of jaws. The fenders folded down to become shields for the wheels. The rear of the cabin elevated and a pair of cannons extended from it. The rear half-doors rotated up to reveal missile pods.

Calvin then converted the Piledriver. The wheels lowered and lifted the body about ten feet. The sides of the middle folded down and revealed a trio of gun turrets on either side. Another turret, this one armed with a cannon, elevated from the rear of the bus.

Kelly was the next one. The Tornado's rear cabin split down the middle and extended to the sides revealing a rocket pod on each side. A set of rotor blades elevated and spread out. A tail boom extended from the rotor's powerplant. Cannons extended from the headlights and a pair of horizontal stabilizers extended from the body. Kelly then took off...and flew away.

"Frank, where are you going?" yelled Bates into his radio.

"Get back here, you coward!" added Gilford.

"I think he's got the right idea, Marcus." said Melissa into her radio.

"Well, Melissa." said Gilford. "I wish you'd stayed the other night. We could have caught up on old times."

"And let Malcolm figure out our secrets?" asked Melissa. "Nice try, but I've seen him on the debate team. They call him 'The Fox' for a reason."

"So be it." said Gilford. "We've still got you slightly outnumbered."

"Fine by me." said Melissa.

"Get them." said Warfield. She raced into action and converted the Nightshade, which had also retained the transformation from the Manta. The rear wheels folded back with a pair of wings attached. The front wheels flipped over to reveal horizontal stabilizers. The hood slid forward to reveal laser cannons and a missile rack.

Malloy transformed the Nightwolf next followed by the Nightmare. A large laser cannon folded out of the ladder. The front half of the truck then separated from the rear and revealed tank treads on the rear of the front. The sides extended to reveal laser turrets and the back of the ladder elevated to become a radar dish.

The front of the Nightmare continued its change. The cab folded down to reveal a gun turret. The sides folded open to reveal rocket launchers.

"Let's get 'em!" said Bates.

"Ah, who needs Kelly anyway?" asked Calvin.

While the two groups moved into action, Liam pulled up a block away in the Tempest. "Yeah, that's right." he said. "Wipe each other out."

Buddie pulled up behind him in the Firecracker and stopped. He took out his radio and called Matt. "Matt, this is Buddie. We followed Liam. He went to the branch office. There's a full-on battle raging between VENOM and the vampires."

"VENOM?" asked Matt. "Well, it looks like Mayhem came out of hiding. I wonder why?"

"Apparently, your theory was correct." said Buddie. "Mayhem is in cahoots with Darwood. That's why they were at the college last night."

Liam walked up to their window and asked "And just what are you doing here?"

"Hey, do you think people want to break down out here in the middle of the night?" replied Enzo.

Liam took Buddie's radio and said "You're not calling Matt now!"

As he stormed off, Buddie said "Good thing I already did."

Liam got back into the Tempest and drove off. Half a block away, he transformed the Tempest into a strike helicopter. The rear hatch slid forward over the roof and a pair of rotor blades elevated and snapped into place. The spoiler slid back on a pair of tail booms. The side skirts extended to the sides to become missile launchers. The airdam rotated to become a radar scanner and a gatling gun lowered from the bottom of the vehicle.

About a mile away, Kelly flew over the Nevada desert in the Cyclone. He didn't have a strong grip on his sanity at that moment. Just then, Darwood came over the communicator. "Kelly, where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm getting out of there!" whimpered Kelly. "I'm no vampire slayer! This isn't my fight!"

"Kelly, you will return to the battle right now or there will be serious consequences!" said Darwood.

"Like what?" asked Kelly.

"Well, that vehicle you are currently operating has a couple of things you should know about." said Darwood. "First of all, there is a remote control installed which can shut down the engine and bring it in for a landing, then lock the doors so they can't be opened from the inside. There's also a tracking device which will lead us right to it. After we pry you out, we can throw you into a cell with the next vampire we capture. Then when he turns you, I'm going to use you both for personal research and when that finishes, if you survived, I'll chain you to the roof of my house and listen to your screams as the sun comes up and I eat my breakfast."

Kelly thought about what he'd said. "I'll just go back right now." he said as he turned the Cyclone around.

"I thought you'd see it my way." said Darwood.

The VENOM and vampire vehicles engaged in a fierce battle. The Stinger and Iguana tangled with the Nightwolf while the Piledriver went toe-to-toe with the Nightmare. The Jackal tried its best to hold off the Nightshade.

"This would be a lot better if Kelly hadn't bailed on us!" growled Bates.

Rax was the only one who noticed the Night Terror was missing. "Doggone it, Cale's using the distraction to her advantage." he said.

True to Rax's deduction, Melissa had cut around the back of the building, but found there was no back door. She ended up driving the Night Terror into the lake Julie had mentioned. The rear end extended rearwards, split, and extended sideways. The rear wheels rotated rearward to become propulsion jets. The front wheels rotated downwards and directional fins extended from the fender vents. The front bumper extended forward to reveal torpedoes and a pair of guns elevated from the hood.

"Now to sneak in the back way." she said.

However, her way in was cut off when Rax drove the Caribe into the lake. The hood rose slightly to reveal a pair of guns while the wheels rotated to reveal stabilizer fins. The rear cabin extended to the sides to reveal torpedoes and a pair of thrusters.

"Touche, Rax." said Melissa.

That's when the MASK agents showed up. Matt pulled alongside the Firecracker and climbed out. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Liam took my radio." said Buddie. "The vampires and VENOM agents are going at it tooth and nail. Liam hasn't engaged either of them, but I can't take him out since I don't have anti-aircraft weaponry."

"Tony, you go in there and try to talk him down." said Matt.

"Watch how I rock." said Tony as he pushed the Angel's transformation button. The car's doors flipped up to become wings and the wheels flipped up to become propellers. The spoiler elevated to become a horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizers. A pair of laser guns extended from the grill. The propellers then angled forward and the Angel flew towards the battle.

Warfield made another attack run in the Nightshade. As she was lining up the Jackal in her sights, her quarter-window was shot out by a laser blast. She looked over her shoulder to see that Kelly had rejoined the battle.

"You?" she asked.

"It's about time." said Bates.

"Couldn't let them get you." said Kelly.

Liam snuck up on the battle. "Let's see." he thought. "Who do I attack? The vampires or VENOM?"

As he was lining up a shot, the Angel quickly flew in front of him, making him jump.

"Tony!" he yelled. "That's not a very bright move!"

"And attacking an entire army alone is?" asked Tony.

"One of those armys just forced my cousin to join them." said Liam. "The other set him up to do so. Whoever I attack will know what pain they've caused."

"But will it reverse the tragedy?" asked Tony. "I know you think it will make you feel better, but it won't."

"They must pay for their crime." said Liam.

"I strongly believe they will." said Tony. "However, I don't think it should be you who metes out justice. God throws these little annoyances our way as a test. He is testing us for our reactions to see if we are ready for his reward."

Liam pondered his statement. "And you're saying taking revenge merits an F." he said.

"Yes, exactly." said Tony.

"I can't turn my back on Max." said Liam.

"You might not have to." said Tony. "According to Matt, Michael is possibly close to finding a way to reverse the process."

"How close?" asked Liam.

"He just needs one little bit of information." said Tony. "You might be able to help in that department."

"Very well, Father Whelan." said Liam. "I shall assist in whatever capacity I can."

"Good to hear that." said Tony.

In the lake next to the branch office's parking lot, the Night Terror changed back into a car and drove out of the water. The Caribe bobbed to the surface a second later with Rax forcing the window open. Melissa then parked the car and jumped out.

"Nicely distracted." said Melissa. "Time to make my move."

"Great, I'm the only one who knows and I can't tell anyone." said Rax as Melissa entered the office. "Guess I'm going to have to alert them another way." He watched as the Jackal came in close and called "Stiletto, fire!"

A volley of black darts fired from his mask and hit the Jackal's driver's side door. Bates quickly opened the door and yelled "What's the deal?"

"Cale's going into the building!" yelled Rax. "I couldn't call you because my radio's out!"

"Oh, I get it." said Bates. He jumped from the Jackal and ran into the building after her. Little did he realize, Gloria had driven in for a closer look in the Shark and saw the action.

"Matt, it's Gloria. One of the vampires, Melissa Cale I believe, just went into the building. I think she might be after the research."

"If she gets that research, she can expose Darwood's fraud." said Jeremy.

"And she'll prevent the vampires from having to invade the third site." said Matt. "Darwood's trap will have failed. As bad as it might sound, we could actually use the trap to our advantage."

"Then we have to prevent Melissa from getting that research." said Julie.

"Gloria, get in there." said Matt.

"I wish I could." said Gloria. "But the entrance is now covered. I couldn't get through there if I tried."

"Tony, is Liam calmed down?" asked Matt.

"To the best of my judgement." said Tony.

"Bring him into action." said Matt. "If worse comes to worst, we might need him to exact vengeance."

"Uh, okay." said Tony.

Melissa made her way to the office on the second floor. She looked around and found what she was looking for. "Now, if I know Malcolm," she said "the password protection should be no problem."

"Too bad you'll never get to use it." said Bates as he entered after her.

"You're new to this, aren't you?" asked Melissa. "Let me be the first to educate you on the way things go. Me, vampire. You, dinner." She then extended her fangs as her eyes turned red.

Bates was having none of it though. He grabbed her by the throat and forced her up against the wall. "You think I'm not going to fight a girl?" he asked. "Guess again, missy. I have no problems with losing to a female and I have no problems with fighting one either. I don't buy into that garbage about women being weaker than men. I've seen many women hold their own with men and come out swinging. I'd say we're equals."

"There's one thing you forgot." said Melissa. "You're a human man and I'm a vampire woman, so we're not as equal as you think." She then twisted out of the hold and rammed him face-first into the wall. He made a two-inch deep impression.

"You'll pay for that!" he snapped. He turned around and threw a punch at her. She blocked it and tried to pounce on him.

"Are those two dancing?" asked Gilford.

"Hey, shouldn't you have your eyes trained on the enemy?" asked Calvin.

"What enemy?" asked Gilford. "We've got them almost destroyed."

Melissa then grabbed Bates by the throat and threw him onto the desk next to the computer she was trying to access. She held him down as the computer booted up. She leaned in close to take a bite.

"She's going to access the research!" said Gilford.

Tony was monitoring the VENOM communications. "You want your vengeance?" he asked. "Take out that office."

"With pleasure." said Liam.

Melissa was about to sink her fangs into Bates' neck when she heard the rotors of the Tempest and looked up. Bates immediately noticed the missile launchers were being aimed at their position.

"Adios." said Liam as he pressed the thumb button on his joystick.

Bates quickly threw Melissa off of himself, stood up, and called "Ironman, on!" A light blue energy field enveloped him.

Two missiles fired from the Tempest and Melissa ran for the opposite window. A massive explosion resulted from the missiles hitting the window. Melissa jumped through the other window as a huge fireball spread through the office. She landed on the ground in a crouch, then ran for the Night Terror.

The explosion sent the computer flying out of the window as well. It connected with the Tornado's rudder before plunging to the ground and shattering.

"Mayday! Mayday!" called Kelly. "My rudder's out! I'm going to have to set down!"

In the office, the fireball dissipated and revealed mangled frames of cubicle partitions, burning paper, and smashed computer equipment. It also revealed Bates completely unharmed.

"Gilford, call Darwood and tell him the first field test of the Ironman mask was a rousing success." said Bates into his communicator.

"Oh great, he lived." said Calvin.

"Back to base, everyone." said Gilford.

The vampires and VENOM agents converted their vehicles back into civilian mode and drove off. With the research destroyed, there was no reason to continue the fight.

Liam and Tony landed their vehicles and converted them back into cars. Both then climbed out.

"Good work, guys." said Matt. "The vampires are not going to get their hands on the research yet. I think we may have delayed them a little."

"Good to hear." said Tony.

"Matt, I'm sorry I went off like that." said Liam.

"I understand completely, Liam." said Matt. "We've all lost someone we care about in this war. We all want to believe they can be saved."

"Like your son?" asked Jeremy. "I saw his photograph on your desk."

"Oh no, Scott's fine." said Matt. "He's an intern at Tracker Enterprises and is engaged to be married soon. He's not in this."

"Tony says that Michael is working on a way to reverse the vampirism process." said Liam. "Matt, if it makes any difference, I would like to throw myself into that project as much as I possibly can. I don't want to take revenge on the vampires, I want to help Max in any way I can."

"You know, that's funny." said Matt. "I was just about to put you on this project as punishment for this whole flight of vengeance."

"If you need anymore help, just ask." said someone else. They all looked to see it was Kelly. He'd made an emergency landing in the Tornado in the parking lot nearby. "'Cause I'm throwing in my sword."

AN:A couple of chapters ago, I had Daniel "Hack" Hurt make an appearance. This time, his normal partner, Craig "Slash" Hudson, makes his cameo.  
Thank you, we shall continue.


	5. The Quest

MASK: Fangs 

Chapter 5:The Quest

Shortly after morning broke, the MASK agents went to the hidden laboratory.

"You seem tired, Matt." said Nevada. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"As much as I can." said Matt. "I'm sure you've noticed our situation."

"I see what you mean." said Nevada.

"So, who's your science guy?" asked Caitlin.

"This is Michael Rainwolf." said Nevada. "He's a graduate of the University of Oklahoma who majored in numerous sciences. He's the top researcher here."

Jeremy walked into the lab. "Hey, I saw what was in that cargo container." he said. "Very nice. What is that for?"

"If we can complete this project," said Michael "that will be the conveyance of the vampires' destruction. We will mount the anti-vampire weapon within once it's completed."

"Looks like you'll be slaying in style." said Jeremy.

"'Slaying' may not be the correct word." said Michael. "Liam, what do you know about the source of Riley's powers?"

"My parents told me tales of Riley's origins." said Liam. "They said that he had undertaken a quest for great power over his fellow man. He had learned of a powerful artifact that was said to grant such powers to he who possessed it. However, there was a terrible price to be paid in the possessor's soul."

"Your parents seem well-versed in this legend." said Alex.

"Well, they oughta." said Liam. "Dad was a descendant of those who originally trapped Riley in his castle and therefore sworn to keep watch on him. Mum was almost one of his victims due to a dare. Not one of her smarter moments."

"About this artifact?" asked Gloria.

"Oh right." said Liam. "By now, you should be familiar with the powers granted by this artifact. Increased strength, extreme fortitude, hypnosis, sharpened reflexes, sharpened senses, eternal life, plus the ability to pass this onto others. But you're aware of the weaknesses as well. The possessor and those infected are weak against anything holy, sunlight, and fire. Well, more weak against fire than your usual human. These weaknesses have been exploited by my father and the others who were descended from the original army. And they worked bloody well until that idiot Mayhem intervened."

"What was this artifact?" asked Tony.

"It was a golden statue resembling a griffin raising its paw." said Liam.

Buddie looked intrigued. "I think I know of this artifact." he said.

"Yes?" asked Matt.

"My contacts in the criminal underworld have mentioned it." said Buddie. "They say that Mayhem and his misfits were seeking said griffin, but that it broke in two after a trap was sprung. It turned out to he a wooden statue coated in gold."

"That wasn't it." said Liam. "The statuette is solid gold. It's said that Riley used the statuette to lure potential victims to his castle. He has a false one in place in case someone manages to get their grubby paws on it."

"Where is this griffin?" asked Michael.

"Simple logic says he took it with him." said Bruce.

"Hondo, maybe your contact can help us." said Buddie.

"I've never called him before." said Hondo. "Besides, it's daytime. He's most likely sleeping."

"We don't have until sunset." said Matt. "Please, Hondo. You have to try."

"Okay, but I'm not making any promises." said Hondo as he took out his cell phone.

Everybody looked at him. He checked his call history and found the number of the mystery caller. He then dialled the number and put the phone to his ear.

A few seconds later, he got his first response. "I'm trying to sleep, but I'm not expecting you to show us some compassion." said the voice on the other end.

"I hope you understand we are trying to help you." said Hondo. "We just might find a way to put an end to your curse. For that, we need your help."

"Really? Well, what can I help you with?"

"Riley has a statuette." said Hondo. "A golden griffin. We believe it's the source of his powers. Have you seen this statuette?"

"Have I seen it? Yes, I have. But it's not here in the mansion."

"Are you sure?" asked Hondo. "You might not have known what to look for."

"I know what statuette you're talking about. It was not taken from the castle."

"How can you be sure?" asked Hondo.

"Because we didn't take it with us."

Suddenly, it dawned on Hondo who his anonymous source was. "Brad?" he asked.

"Took you long enough." said Brad.

"Why didn't you tell me who you were?" asked Hondo.

"The last time you saw me, I was getting bitten by a vampire." said Brad. "I wasn't sure if I could get you to trust me. I thought I'd let my information do the talking instead."

"You're not giving into the bloodlust." said Hondo.

"It's tough, but I'm surviving. So to speak." said Brad.

"Is there anyone else like that?" asked Hondo.

"Dusty is." said Brad. "So is Max. So are a couple dozen others here."

"A couple dozen out of how many?" asked Hondo.

"Fifty maybe." said Brad. "You're coming to help us?"

"That's the plan." said Hondo.

"Good luck with that." said Brad. "As far as the others are concerned, we never spoke."

Hondo folded up his phone.

"That was Brad?" asked an astonished Matt.

"Shockingly so." said Hondo.

"The statuette?" asked Liam.

"Still in Ireland." said Hondo.

Everyone looked to Liam. "Looks like a trip to the old country is in order." he said.

----------

The team left the lab and came out into the reservation. Kelly was there and several of the locals were gathered around the Tornado, admiring it.

"Well? What's the scoop?" he asked.

"You got a passport?" asked Matt. "You're off to Ireland for the statuette."

"I am?" asked Kelly.

"Aye, lad." said Liam. "I'll be coming with you."

"It's only reasonable." said Alex. "He's from the area and he's descended from the ones responsible for locking away Riley."

"In short, I know where to get a map." said Liam.

"Tony, I think it best that you go too." said Matt. "Liam could use someone he can trust on this one."

"I fully accept." said Tony.

"The only question left is if you can do it." said Matt to Kelly.

"I'll try to clear it with Mayhem and Darwood." said Kelly. "I think this is going to be exciting."

"Oh, it should be." said Liam.

----------

A couple of hours later, Darwood had called together his agents as Mayhem and his agents watched.

"Well, this has been the biggest disaster I have ever watched over." said Darwood. "I had the research set up in three stations. One has been captured by our archrivals. The second has been completely destroyed."

"On the brighter side," said Gilford "the vampires haven't gotten their hands on it and realized it's a trap. Otherwise, we couldn't keep drawing them out."

"A good point, Marcus." said Darwood. "This last station, the research center in the mountains, is our last chance. If the research is captured or destroyed, the vampires will have accomplished their mission and cease their attacks on us. To increase our chances of victory, I am ordering all available personel to stand guard over the center. Is that clear?"

"Clear as glass." said Calvin.

"Good." said Darwood. "I want you all to continue to practice with your vehicles. I want those vehicles to be a virtual extention of yourselves."

"No problem, sir." said Bates.

As the agents were getting up to leave, Kelly casually strolled in.

"Kelly!" yelled Darwood. "I don't really enjoy the fact that you decided to bail on us in the middle of a serious battle. I also dislike the fact that you disappear after the battle and don't show up until now. I think you should take the afternoon to think about how that made me feel."

Kelly looked at him tensely, then said "Okay." nonchallantly.

----------

At MASK headquarters, Liam got on the phone.

"What time is it in Ireland?" asked Tony.

"It should be nine o'clock at night." said Liam.

"Who are you calling?" asked Tony.

"He's another descendant of the original group that sequestered Riley in his castle." said Liam. "Sean, how are you?" he asked into the phone. "It's Liam O'Grady. I have a wee bit of an emergency."

"What kind of an emergency?" asked Sean.

"Don't tell anyone," said Liam "but I think we may have come across a possible cure for vampirism."

"A cure?" asked Sean. "You mean a way to turn vampires back into people?"

"We can hope." said Liam. "I need to know something."

"Go ahead." said Sean.

"Do you know if Murt still has that floorplan to Riley's castle?" asked Liam.

"You didn't hear?" asked Sean. "Murt was killed in a vampire battle last month."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." said Liam. "Did he suffer much?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Sean. "We're talking about Murt. THEY suffered."

"I suppose they did." said Liam. "I just want you to know that I will be returning to Ireland with a couple of friends. We're going to acquire the statuette that granted Riley his powers and we're going to try to use it to develop a counter to it."

"I look forward to seeing you." said Sean.

"I suppose." said Liam. "I'll see you in a couple of days. Goodbye."

"See ya." said Sean. He then hung up his phone. Liam did the same...without ever realizing he had just been talking to a vampire.

----------

Not long afterwards, Liam, Tony, and Kelly prepared to board the plane.

"The plane is set to take off." said Matt at the gate. "When are you set to arrive in Ireland?"

"Taking into account how long it took me to get here," said Liam "I think tomorrow morning is very likely."

"What are your plans once you get there?" asked Matt.

"First, we're going to go to a friend's house." said Liam. "There's supposed to be a floorplan for Riley Castle hidden in there somewhere. After that, we're going to Riley Castle to secure the statuette."

"How did Riley achieve his powers from the statuette?" asked Matt.

"I'm not really sure yet." said Liam. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm a little concerned." said Matt. "If you were to accidentally do the same thing he did, you might end up like him."

Liam thought about his comment for a couple of seconds. "A valid point." he said. "So, what are you and the others going to do?"

"Darwood's research center has not yet been attacked." said Matt. "We figured they were about due. We'll be backing up Mayhem and Darwood and their forces."

"Well, good luck with that." said Liam.

"Good luck to you too." said Matt. "Have a safe trip."

Liam turned and walked towards the gate. He joined Tony when he got there.

"So, how are we getting around Ireland?" asked Tony.

"A friend will be giving us transportation." said Liam.

"That Sean guy?" asked Tony.

"No, someone else I called later." said Liam.

----------

Hours later...

"Okay, folks, this is the one." said Matt. "Mayhem may not want our help, but this is our last opportunity to deliver a serious blow to the vampires before the completion of the mission in Ireland. We're currently without Liam and Tony while Mayhem is without his guy, whatever his name is."

"So, he's going to need some backup." said Jeremy. "Anyone in mind?"

"I'd like to see how you work out in battle." said Matt.

"Then I'm in." said Jeremy.

"Also, Miss Horowitz will be joining you." said Matt. "I trust you two have trained with your vehicles."

"This afternoon." said Caitlin. "I wasn't aware a Lamborghini could do that. Of course, I was also not aware that I could do that."

"This team is full of surprises." said Matt.

"So are its members." said Jeremy.

"Then it's settled." said Matt. "Jeremy, Caitlin, Julio, and myself will join the VENOM guards at the lab."

"We'll be there." said Julio.

The agents left the briefing room and ran into Hondo.

"I just got off the phone with Brad." he said. "Someone tipped off the vampires about our little quest in Ireland. They're sending Malloy to interfere. One of their guys is already on site."

"I think we'd better warn Liam then." said Matt as he took out his cell phone. "Although he should be fine for a while. It's daytime right now in Ireland. Everything should be going smoothly so far."

----------

In Ireland...

"If this is his idea of joke, I'll kill him!" yelled Liam. He was looking at their transportation, a Hillman Minx Series III in relatively bad shape.

"Relax, Liam." said Tony. "It's still better than walking."

"I think it's kind of charming." said Kelly.

"Ah, maybe Buddie and Enzo can do something with it." said Liam. "Let's get going and try to find that map before night falls."

"You got it." said Kelly.

As Liam was approaching the car, his cell phone went off. He answered it with a quick "Yes?"

"Liam?" asked Matt. "We've just received word that Riley is sending Malloy your way in an effort to halt your operation."

"Well, I guess we'd better work a little faster." said Liam.

"Just thought you might want to be warned." said Matt.

"Thanks for the warning." said Liam.

----------

In the mountains overlooking the Nevada desert, Darwood's research facility stood. Already, VENOM agents were moving into the area.

"Weren't we here last night?" asked Cassidy.

"And if we manage to protect the research, we'll have to do it again tomorrow night." said Maximus.

"Maybe we should call it a night then." said Weller.

"Don't even think about it." said Mayhem. "If this isn't protected, the vampires will get the research. Who knows what they will do with it?"

On the road leading to the facility, the Thunder Hawk, Firefly, Wyvern, and Chupacabra raced up the mountain. They parked in an overlook above the facility.

"Care to introduce us?" asked Caitlin.

"Certainly." said Matt. He pointed to the Switchblade and said "The guy in the helicopter is Miles Mayhem, VENOM leader." He then pointed to the Jackhammer and said "Cliff Dagger, weapons expert and general moron, drives the Excursion." He pointed to the Buzzard and said "The driver of the McLaren is Miles Mayhem's twin brother, Maximus." He looked at the Piledriver and said "We saw the bus in action last night, but we have no info on the driver." He looked at the Cannonball, Roach, and Zombie. "The others I have no information on." he said.

"When does the action begin?" asked Jeremy.

"Patience, mi amigo." said Julio. "Soon, you may have more action than you can handle."

----------

Max walked through Riley's mansion which was somewhat chaotic. He quickly found Brad and asked "What's going on?"

"Just what it looks like, total chaos." said Brad. "Riley is sending Laura, Elizabeth, Gorey, and Melissa to retrieve the last batch of research. Also, Malloy is on his way to Ireland to help protect the source of Riley's powers."

"Does Hondo know?" asked Max.

"Yeah, I called him with both pieces of information." said Brad. "I finally revealed my identity. I think he trusts me now."

"Oh, that's a relief." said Max.

"This might not be." said Brad. "Matt also sent a couple of agents to Ireland. One was your cousin."

Max was taken aback by the news. "Whoa." he said. "I hope he's going to be okay."

"He's got a six hour head start on Malloy." said Brad. "Luckily, Malloy wasn't one of VENOM's brighter agents. I think your cousin has a fighting chance."

"Brad, did you hear?" asked another vampire. "One of our guards spotted a vehicle off to the south. We think it might be a spy for MASK."

"Is someone looking into it?" asked Brad.

"Kevin and Dusty." said the vampire. "If there's something out there, they'll find it."

As the vampire started to leave, Brad said "Yeah, they'll find it." After the vampire left earshot, he added. "Not."

"What do you mean?" asked Max.

"Dusty is one of our guys." said Brad. "He's seeking to undermine Riley's organization as well. He should be able to manipulate Kevin into missing the target."

"What about Kevin?" asked Max.

"Let's hope he doesn't spot the threat before Dusty." said Brad. "If your guy had some kind of warning, he'd have a definite advantage."

In the Naginata, Scooter donned his mask and said "Gee, I wonder what kind of warning he could mean."

----------

In Ireland, Liam and his group found Murt's cottage outside of Limerick. Liam parked some distance away and the group got out of the Minx.

"That had to be the most uncomfortable ride I've ever been in." said Kelly.

"And you're the one who thought the car was charming." said Tony.

"That's where Murt lives." said Liam. "Well, lived actually. He was always the outsider of the group."

"Guess that's why his pad's so far from society." said Kelly.

"Pad?" asked Tony. "What is this? The seventies?"

Liam led the group to the door and tried it. "If I know Murt..." he said. He turned the knob a certain way, then pushed hard. The door came off its hinges.

"Nice to see he took care of his place." said Tony.

The group then entered the cottage. "Yeah, this is kind of what I thought a traditional Irish cottage would look like inside." said Kelly. He then saw a widescreen television off to the side.

"He always loved 'The League of Gentlemen'." said Liam.

"Is this a treasure hunt or a wake?" asked Tony.

"Oh yes, right." said Liam.

----------

Dusty and Kevin, a vampire with brown hair who was turned in his early twenties, climbed out of a Dodge Durango with blue/black color shift paint, silver splash graphics, a large brush guard, and off-road tires mounted on Weld Cheyenne 5 rims.

"Where did they say it was?" asked Dusty.

"Out here somewhere." said Kevin. "This is the area."

"Now seems like a good time to start." said Scooter. "Maraj, on!"

Suddenly, the Naginata turned invisible. Little did Scooter realize, Dusty had glimpsed him.

Brad and Max were watching from the mansion. "Well, it looks like Jacques is either about to smile down from heaven or turn over in his grave." said Brad.

"I'll search over here." said Dusty as he pointed to the area where the Naginata was. "You take that area over there."

"Okay." said Kevin.

"I see he's easily misled." said Max.

"Keep watching." said Brad.

Kevin started to search the area Dusty told him to search. Dusty pretended to search the area he volunteered to search. He looked at the spot where he'd seen the Naginata. He then walked straight towards it.

"Can he see it at that close proximity?" asked Max.

"Maybe a little." said Brad.

Dusty got close enough to the Naginata to nearly touch it. Inside, Scooter started to hyperventilate as Dusty came closer. If Dusty could see the Naginata, he and Scooter would have been looking into each other's eyes.

Dusty squinted.

Scooter blinked.

After staring for a few more seconds, Dusty turned to Kevin and said "Ain't nothing here."

He walked back to Kevin and the truck. Scooter slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"I didn't find anything either." said Kevin.

"Must have been a mirage." said Dusty.

"I think we should put more alert guards on duty." said Kevin.

Scooter started to shake. He grabbed the steering wheel to steady himself.

"He walked right up to it." said Max. "He must have seen it."

"He did." said Brad. "Dusty's on our side. He wouldn't give your guy up."

"Thank goodness for that." said Max.

----------

The Night Terror, Nightbird, Night Bandit, and Nightmare raced up the road to the research facility.

They ended up parking some distance away. Melissa took out her binoculars and looked. "Mayhem and his crew are out in force tonight." she said.

"How many?" asked Elizabeth.

"Seven." said Melissa. "They even brought back that bus we faced last night."

"How do we play this?" asked Gorey.

"The same way we did it the last two nights." said Elizabeth. "Someone directly engages the VENOM forces and someone else goes into the building to retrieve the plans."

"I'll be the retriever!" said Laura.

"Wait, didn't that strategy also fail the last two nights?" asked Melissa.

"The first one failed because someone didn't prevent that MASK agent from following Laura in." said Elizabeth. "The second one failed because someone didn't prevent that VENOM agent from following you in. So, the obvious flaw is that someone needs to cover the retriever. I'll take that role since I'm always watching over Laura."

"Thanks, mom." said Laura. Elizabeth looked at her crossly.

"Let's go." said Melissa.

The vampires drove into action. Gilford, who was in the Piledriver, saw them approaching. "Here they come again." he said.

"Okay, remember our plan." said Mayhem.

"Gotcha." said Weller. He maneuvered the Roach in front of the main entrance. He then hit the conversion button. The rear split and extended rearward to become robotic legs. The passenger section elevated and the front fenders extended to the sides to become robotic arms with laser cannons attached. The hood flipped down to become a chestplate.

"I think I know what he played with as a kid." said Calvin as he converted the Piledriver.

"You're not too far off there, my man." said Weller as he lifted the arms into position.

"Oh shoot!" said Laura. "I can't get in that way!"

"The building has a skylight." said Elizabeth as she converted the Nightbird. "You can probably get in that way."

"Oh, why didn't I think of that?" said Laura. She activated the Night Bandit's transformation. The fenders and doors extended sideways and the wheels rotated downward. A pair of wings flipped up from the doors and a pair of jet engines extended from the rear fenders. A pair of laser cannons extended from the front fenders as the front bumper extended forward to become a horizontal stabilizer. A pair of vertical stabilizers flipped out of the rear hatch.

As the Night Bandit took to the air, Mayhem decided to counter her. The Switchblade's rotors retracted and the rear panels flipped forward and rotated downward to become wings. The landing skids retracted and attached to the wings to become laser cannons. Another pair of laser cannons extended from the engines.

"I'll back you up." said Cassidy. She accelerated to high speed, then transformed the Cannonball. The spoiler elevated to reveal a pair of jet engines and split to become a pair of vertical stabilizers. The rear wheels roated back attached to wings. The front wheels flipped down as the hood slid forward to reveal laser cannons and become canards.

Dagger converted the Jackhammer while Carl did the same with the Zombie. The body arched in the middle and the passenger compartment rose to become a turret. A pair of laser cannons extended from the front of the turret while the rear elevated to become a missile launcher and radar dish. The front bumper extended forward to become a ram.

Gorey converted the Nightmare and Melissa ran interference in the Night Terror. The MASK agents watched from the overlook.

"Looks like we're not needed." said Julio.

"Yeah, VENOM's got them completely outnumbered." said Jeremy. "They've also exposed a flaw in the vampires' plan."

"Don't rush to judgement on that." said Matt. "The vampires almost succeeded two nights in a row. It was only through our intervention that they failed."

"Guys, look!" said Caitlin. The Night Bandit had flown to the roof of the building and Laura shot out the skylights.

"Let's go, team." said Matt. "We've got a reason to be here after all."

The agents jumped into their cars and started them.

"Jeremy, your car doesn't fly." said Matt. "I'm afraid you'll have to take the access road."

"Understood." said Jeremy.

The engines on the Night Bandit rotated upward to vector their thrust downward. The craft lowered itself through the broken skylight and landed in the center of a lounge.

"Blast!" yelled Mayhem. "Cassidy, get in there!"

"As you wish." said Cassidy.

As she flew the Cannonball to the roof, the MASK agents joined the battle. The Thunder Hawk was first to transform. The gull-wing doors flipped open and the side skirts extended to become laser cannons. The spoiler and rear bumper rose to reveal jet engines.

The Wyvern was next. The rear fenders and engine cover extended rearward. The rear fenders then rotated upward slightly to reveal jet engines. The spoiler split and extended to the sides to become horizontal stabilizers. The side skirts extended to become wings. A pair of laser cannons extended from the intakes in the front bumper.

The Firefly was right behind her. The rear wheels rotated rearward mounted on wings. The rear wheels became rocket thrusters while the front wheels, also mounted to the wings, had lasers on them. The hood split and folded open sideways to reveal a third laser and also to become canards.

"MASK!" said Mayhem. "What are you doing here?"

"Protecting lives, like you are supposed to be doing." said Matt over his radio. "You've just confirmed that you are in league with Malcolm Darwood."

"Indeed I am." said Mayhem. "But I doubt that makes much of a difference in this battle."

"I agree for once." said Matt. "I will lend you our assistance this once."

----------

"Now, if I were Murt, where would I hide that map?" asked Liam.

"It's not a big place, so there aren't a lot of options." said Kelly.

"Maybe it's in the attic." said Tony.

"No, Murt was afraid of heights." said Liam. "He never went up to the attic."

"Is there a basement?" asked Kelly.

"No." said Liam. "There shouldn't be. Wait."

He crouched down and started searching the floor.

"What is it?" asked Tony.

"Murt once told me he found a loose floorboard." said Liam. "He said he was going to use it to hide something in there someday."

"And you think he might have hidden it there." said Tony.

"Exactly." said Liam. "Our group decided the best way to keep our secrets safe would be to share each secret with one other member. Murt shared the secret of his hidey hole with me."

"So, where is this floorboard?" asked Tony.

"He never said." said Liam.

"I think I found it." said Kelly. He stepped on a floorboard and found it to be loose.

Liam walked over to his location and tried to pry the board out with a Swiss army knife. After a few seconds, the board popped out.

"Is it in there?" asked Kelly.

"Let me check." said Liam. He reached into the gap and felt around. "I think I found it." he said. He pulled a piece of paper out of the hole and brushed off the dust.

"Is that it?" asked Kelly.

"Looks like it." said Liam. "Yes, I think this is it."

"Great, let's go." said Kelly.

"You know, I think we should say a few words for Murt before we go." said Tony.

"I agree." said Liam. "It was because of him that the map was still here for us to find."

Liam, Tony, and Kelly stood together.

"We gather here in memory of Murt." said Tony. "He was a brave man that two of us have never met, but greatly appreciate his actions. To Murt. We thank you and will use your final gift to save us all."

Suddenly, a pair of gunshots rang out.

"What the heck was that?" asked Liam.

"It came from the attic." said Kelly.

They looked over at the ladder to the attic and saw the ceiling panel at the top was slightly askew.

"Whoever's up there, show yourself!" said Tony.

The panel pulled open. Kelly hid behind Liam. After that, Sean dropped through the hole and landed in front of them.

"I didn't expect you so soon." said Sean.

"I suppose I should have seen this coming." said Liam.

"Aye, you should have." said Sean. "Thank you so much for telling me that Murt had the map to Riley's castle. I knew there was something that guy wasn't telling me."

"You're one of them now." said Liam. "Murt's dead. Declan's still on our side. Other than him, it's just me."

"Pretty soon, it's just Declan." said Sean.

"In case you haven't noticed, I've got backup." said Liam. He looked to Tony and they shared a nod. He then looked to where he thought Kelly was and discovered he had escaped. "Well, this lad is a man of the cloth and that's still good." said Liam.

"So was Murt." said Sean. "He was studying for the priesthood when I did him in. I hope his faith protected his soul more than his life."

He and Liam rushed each other. Liam elbowed Sean in the face while Sean returned with a knee to the flank.

"You'll have to do better than that." said Liam.

"I did, when I killed Murt." said Sean. "Did you know he doused himself with holy water so that he'd burn to death when he turned? He chose death over dishonor. Commendable. What's it going to be with you, Liam? Death or dishonor?"

"I'm leaving here with my life and my soul." said Liam.

"We'll see." said Sean.

He and Liam rushed each other again. This time, Liam dropped to his side and slid under Sean as Sean tried to rake his nails across Liam. Liam got back up and ran for the door. Tony was already on his way out.

Sean recovered from his maneuver and went for the ladder. "Guess I'd better get the rifle again." he said.

Outside, Liam and Tony found Kelly standing by the Minx.

"Guys, I found the target of those gunshots." he said. A puddle of battery acid had formed under the engine.

"Well, there goes the security deposit." said Tony.

That was when they heard it: the familiar beating of a helicopter's rotor blades. They looked off to the east to see the helicopter approaching.

"If that's who I think it is, he's not going to be happy about the car." said Liam.

The helicopter, a Westland Lynx, drew closer and flew in close to the group.

Sean aimed his rifle at the group. "I think I'll just leave you alive just enough to survive until nightfall." he said. "Then, I dine nicely."

As he was getting ready to pull the trigger, the Lynx flew in front of him and trained its outrigger weapons on him.

The pilot looked at him and said "Hello, Sean, and goodbye."

"This is going to hurt." said Sean.

The pilot pulled the trigger and fired off a pair of rocket pods mounted under the wings. The cottage exploded in a massive fireball.

"Whoa!" said Kelly. "Talk about overkill!"

The pilot set down not far from them. Liam ran over and said "Nice to see someone's still alive, Declan!"

"After I dropped off the car, I went back to my airfield for some real firepower." said Declan. "Climb in, daylight's running out and that's our only advantage over the vamps."

Liam climbed into the co-pilot's seat while Tony and Kelly climbed in back.

"Sorry about the car." said Liam.

"I'll get it fixed later." said Declan. "Besides, there's more at stake right now than a beaten up British car."

"Got that right." said Liam.

----------

Julio was engaged in a dogfight with Elizabeth. Mayhem was backing him up.

"This girl has been responsible for many losses of ours." said Julio.

"Yeah, she's been a never-ending source of pain for us too." said Mayhem.

"I hope I can keep these guys busy long enough for Laura to get in there." thought Elizabeth.

The Piledriver was locked in battle with the Nightmare. Both vehicles fired upon each other without causing much damage.

"Why don't you come closer?" yelled Calvin. "Show us you're not chicken!"

"And let you hit me while I'm in transit?" said Gorey. "Not in a million years!"

Neither of them noticed the Chubacapra had rejoined the battle. "Yeah, I can see I'm needed." said Jeremy.

He activated the transformation of the Chupacabra. The body rose up a couple of feet. The front clip flipped forward to reveal a small gun turret. The doors flipped out gull-wing style with missile racks on them. The trunk hatch popped open to reveal a drill which extended past the rear bumper.

Jeremy trained his missiles on the Nightmare's ladder cannon. He fired off a salvo and knocked out the ladder. "Gotcha!" he said.

"What?" said a surprised Gorey.

"Now that Gorey's lost his long range weaponry," said Carl "I can go in and take him down a peg or two."

Inside the building, Laura looked for the lab where the research was kept. "Hello, research." she called. "Where are you?"

She had no idea that Cassidy had landed the Cannonball and was now searching for her. "Now where did she go?" she asked herself.

She looked down the hallway towards the labs. She noticed that someone had scratched letters into the wall. She took a closer look and discovered to her amusement that it was the alphabet.

"Doesn't look like the work of a professional scientist." she said to herself.

She then ran down the hallway to see if her hunch was correct. She found the doors to the labs smashed in. She also heard commotion from one of the labs and went to investigate.

Inside, Laura was throwing things around the lab. "Where is it?" she asked.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" asked Cassidy.

"Do you know where the research is?" asked Laura. "Tell me where it is! Please!"

"Not on your life." said Cassidy.

"You have to tell me where it is!" said Laura. "We need it! If you don't tell me, I'll be mad!"

"And what are you going to do to me if I refuse to help you?" asked Cassidy.

Laura bared her fangs and jumped towards Cassidy.

"Sorry I asked." said Cassidy. "Nitro, on!"

Cassidy was surrounded by a green energy field and moved out of the way of Laura's attack with lightning speed.

Laura landed face first on the floor near Cassidy's original position.

"You'll have to do better than that." said Cassidy.

Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind. "How's this?" asked Melissa, the one who grabbed her.

"Melissa, she doesn't fight fair." whined Laura.

"Really, that's not nice." said Melissa sarcasticly.

"Let me go!" said Cassidy as she struggled against her attacker.

"Tell us where the research is and I will." said Melissa.

"How did you get in here?" asked Cassidy.

"I managed to make it in through a garbage chute." said Melissa. "Now, where is the research?"

She tightened her grip on Cassidy for effect. "It's in the room across the hall." said Cassidy.

Melissa released Cassidy who fell to the floor out of breath.

"See, was that so hard?" asked Laura.

"Shut up." said Cassidy.

Melissa entered the next lab and picked up the computer.

"Oh, I didn't know it was on the computer." said Laura. "I wish I'd known that earlier."

"Doesn't matter now." said Melissa. "Grab the woman and we're outta here."

"You said you'd let me go!" said Cassidy as Laura picked her up.

"I did." said Melissa. "You should've run when we gave you the chance."

Outside, Maximus continued to evade fire in the Buzzard. "Time to fight back." he said.

He activated the transformation of the Buzzard. The vehicle split into three others with the center, where Maximus was sitting, becoming a fighter jet. The two sides became remote controlled drones. They ganged up on the Nightmare, unleashing their firepower on the large vehicle.

"I'm getting hammered on down here." said Gorey.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" asked Elizabeth.

Just then, Melissa's voice came over the radio. "Now hear this." she said. "I have your precious research and will be making my getaway. If you even think of following us, I don't think my hostage will be coming back. Tell them, sweetheart."

"Don't try to save me!" yelled Cassidy over the radio. "Stop this jerk at all costs!"

"Cass?" yelled Calvin.

"That's right, we have your girl." said Melissa. "If anyone tries to get their research back, it's lights out for her."

The agents saw the Night Terror speeding away from the facility.

"Get her!" said Mayhem.

"No!" said Calvin. "You'll kill Cass!"

"Mayhem, you don't have to chase them down." said Matt. "We've managed to find their headquarters. We can find them when we plan to go after them."

----------

Night was falling as Liam, Tony, Kelly, and Declan went over the map to Riley Castle. They were in a pub a few blocks from the building were they had landed the Lynx.

Kelly was swinging his hand to the song played by the band. "It's nice to hear a traditional Irish song." he said. "This tune was probably written many centuries ago. Since then, it's survived the Potato Famine, the Easter Rising, the Troubles..."

"It's the Cranberries, you moron." said Liam.

Kelly listened a little closer. The song was, in fact, "Ode To My Family".

"Now about this map." said Tony.

"This is supposedly the most up to date map of Riley Castle in existance." said Liam. "Murt used to sneak into the castle once a year to map the place."

"What, did he have a death wish?" asked Tony. "Sorry, bad choice of words."

"I'll let it go this time." said Liam. "He was one of the best architects in the county. He had a keen eye for designing interiors. We've shown this to other people who have been in there and they say it's completely accurate."

"Why did he draw this up?" asked Kelly.

"I've got this one." said Declan. "Murt was curious about something. He thought there was something else in there, but he wasn't sure what. He thought that if he drew up the map, he could study it and determine what was inside the castle. He also drew up the map in the case of his untimely demise."

"Makes him seem eerily prescient." said Liam.

"Not to sound weird," said Tony "but did he note any booby traps in the castle?"

"He marked quite a few." said Liam as he studied the map. "He also listed the one that Mayhem and his goons triggered when they went after the statuette twenty years ago."

"So, what do you say?" asked Kelly. "Are you up to the quest?"

"I'm okay now." said Liam. "Let's go for it."

As they got up, Liam's cell phone went off. "O'Grady." he said as he answered.

"Liam, it's Matt. We've got a problem."

"What's that?" asked Liam.

"The vampires raided the research facility tonight." said Matt. "They got the research and are soon to discover it's fake. Your mission just got a lot more important."

"Don't worry, I won't fail." said Liam. "I'll talk to you later."

"Good luck, my friend." said Matt.

Liam closed his phone and said "Lads, our mission just became a wee bit more vital. The third piece of research has been captured."

"Uh oh." said Kelly.

"It's getting dark." said Tony. "Malloy could be after us any second."

"Then, we'd better get moving." said Declan.

----------

At Shannon Airport...

"What's the story on this car?" asked a baggage handler. He was looking at the Nightwolf.

"The car was flown in on a plane from the U.S." said another. "Someone is supposed to come by to pick it up."

Suddenly, the car started and drove off the carrier is was mounted on. It continued out of the airport.

"I've never seen that before." said the first baggage handler.

----------

The Lynx flew over the Irish countryside. Declan knew where the castle was, having performed several patrols around it. He found it quickly and landed in a clearing out of visual range.

"Why here?" asked Tony.

"We don't want the vampires to know someone's standing guard." said Declan. "If I park here, they won't think to look for me and I can surprise them."

"Sounds like a plan." said Liam.

"Well, let's get going." said Kelly. "The sooner we go in, the sooner we find the statuette and get out."

"Right." said Liam.

The three men jumped out of the helicopter and made their way to the castle. Liam was the first one in. After entering the foyer, Liam took out the map and laid it out on the floor. Tony turned on a flashlight and shone it on the map.

"Can we try to apply some logic to this so we don't spend all night here?" asked Tony.

"I'm working on it." said Liam. "All we know is that the statuette isn't where Mayhem and company found the decoy."

"Maybe it is there." said Kelly. "You know, last place you'd think to look?"

"That is really short-sighted and dumb." said Liam. "It's also just stupid enough to work."

"I give you a 'Thanks' coupled with a 'Hey!'" said Kelly.

Liam folded up the map and the trio entered the lower levels of the castle.

----------

Outside, Declan sat in the Lynx and kept watch.

"I wish I'd brought a book." he said. "Heard good things about Christopher Moore."

Just then, the Nightwolf pulled up in front of the castle.

"What's this?" asked Declan.

Malloy climbed out and said "Well, this brings back memories." He walked into the castle.

"Might as well call the lads." said Declan.

----------

"Thanks, Declan." said Liam. "We'll keep an eye out." He released the button and said "You heard that, right?"

He, Tony, and Kelly were in the room where the VENOM agents were dropped after triggering the booby trap.

"Sounds like Malloy." said Tony. "Let's find that statuette before he gets here."

"Doesn't look like they reset the trap." said Kelly as he looked at the collapsed floor from the room above.

"They didn't have to." said Liam.

"If the decoy was a marker for the real statuette's location," said Tony "it could be under the floor or behind that wall where the ground is supposed to be."

"I guess we can search for a loose brick or two." said Liam.

"I wouldn't bother." said Kelly. "Not unless you brought heavy equipment."

"We have fellow agents who would suffice." said Liam.

Tony looked at them, then looked up at the ceiling two floors up. "What's up there?" he asked.

Liam took out the map. "According to the map, nothing." he said. "There's a huge empty space on the top floor, no room."

"The space is sealed in." said Kelly. "I saw the upper floor as we were coming in. There was no break in the wall. I would have seen it."

"Hmm, the space just might be big enough for a place to hide a statuette." said Liam. "I think it's worth checking out."

The three climbed the stairs to the top floor. On their way up, they heard what sounded like a helicopter starting up.

"Is that Declan?" asked Tony.

"I think so." said Liam.

The three reached the top floor and walked over to where the "missing" room was on their map. They saw a blank wall.

"Well, here's wall one." said Tony.

"There should be two others on either side." said Liam.

"One of them might have a secret door." said Kelly.

"Aye." said Liam. "I'll check this wall. You check the one in that room." he said to Kelly. "You check the one in that other room." he said to Tony.

"What are we looking for?" asked Tony.

"A hidden switch, cracks in the mortar, anything out of the ordinary." said Liam.

"Got it." said Kelly as he entered the room Liam indicated. Tony entered the other. Liam began to search the wall with his flashlight.

Tony analyzed the wall in front of him with his own flashlight. He looked at the lines of mortar between the blocks, sure that either cracks or a hidden switch could be found in them.

Liam checked the wall. He spotted a crack in the mortar and leaned in for a closer look. He saw the crack didn't encircle the block and let out a sigh of disgust.

Kelly swept his flashlight over the wall he was supposed to check. He wasn't sure how to search for a way through. He heard the thumping of the helicopter again and walked over to the window to take a look. Just as he'd suspected, it was the Lynx.

Something dawned on him. He looked down the exterior wall in the direction of the secret room. He saw another window. "That was a find." he said. He got on his radio and said "I think I found a way into the room. There's a window to the room."

"Can you make it to the window?" asked Liam over the radio.

Kelly looked around the wall. He did not see a ledge below the windows. He looked up, however, and saw the top of the wall. "They don't make it easy." he muttered. He got back on the radio and said "Looks like the only way is to hold the top of the wall and sneak across that way."

"There's no other way?" asked Liam.

"Doesn't look like it." said Kelly.

"Are you up to it?" asked Liam.

"Yeah." said Kelly. "Yeah, I can do this."

He turned off his flashlight and climbed onto the window sill. He held onto the top of the frame, then reached up and grabbed the top of the wall.

He moved along the wall shuffling his hands to the side. "I must be really determined to get this thing." said Kelly to himself. "Because I'd never catch myself doing this otherwise."

Declan watched him from the helicopter. "He's crazy, yeah."

Kelly continued to sneak along the wall until he put his foot through the window. He dropped to the windowsill and grabbed the sides of the frame. He then pulled himself into the window and looked out again to see where he'd come from. He let out a long wimper. He took out his radio and said "I've made it into the room."

"Is the statuette in there?" asked Liam.

Kelly looked into the room and saw what he was looking for: a golden statuette in the shape of a griffin with its paw raised. "It's here." said Kelly.

"Good work." said Liam. "You know I couldn't ask you to do that incredibly dangerous maneuver with the wall again."

"And there's no way I'd do it again." said Kelly.

"I think we still need to find a way to get through that wall." said Liam.

"Does Declan's helicopter have a winch?" asked Kelly. "We can hoist it up that way."

"I think I found a loose block." said Tony over his radio. "If you give me a hand, I can get in there and help you."

Tony started to pat on the block to tell Kelly which one it was. Liam stepped away from the wall to take a breather.

That's when Malloy entered the doorway to the stairs. "You could've waited for me, you know." he said.

"Sorry, you weren't in on the plan." said Liam.

Malloy charged towards Liam and pounced with his fangs extended. Liam reached up to catch him. The two fell to the floor and Liam threw Malloy over his head.

Tony looked out the door as Kelly started to push the block out of the wall. "Hurry, something's here!" he yelled.

The block fell out of the wall. "Come on." said Kelly.

Tony crawled through the hole. Out in the hall, Liam jumped towards Malloy and threw both of his feet into his chest. Malloy was knocked back a few feet. He responded by punching Liam in the shoulder. Liam was knocked to the floor.

Liam sprung back to his feet and charged at Malloy. He tackled him into the wall. Malloy pushed him away.

"You must be Max's cousin." said Malloy. "He talks about you a lot. You shouldn't worry. You'll be joining him soon."

Liam rushed at him again. Malloy caught him and prevented him from getting closer.

Tony and Kelly looked at the statuette.

"Let me get this straight." said Kelly. "It's in the shape of a griffin, yet it turns people into essentially bat-people."

"How are we going to get it out of here?" asked Tony.

"We can always try the obvious way." said Kelly. He grabbed the statuette. Suddenly, he recoiled in pain and let out a bloodcurtling scream.

Tony froze in shock. He watched as Kelly gritted his teeth. He swore he saw Kelly growing fangs. His skin was turning pale as well.

"Dear lord, assist me in my goal to save this lamb's soul." said Tony as he crossed himself. He then took off his cross and pressed it into Kelly's hand. Kelly immediately released the statuette and fell to the floor. The fangs disappeared and his skin tone returned to normal.

"I guess that's the wrong way." said Kelly.

"Yeah." said Tony.

Malloy threw Liam to the floor again. Liam got back up and brushed himself off.

"You really want to destroy me, don't you?" asked Malloy.

"You attacked my cousin." spat Liam. "For that, you must pay the price."

"Oh, it's one of those revenge deals." said Malloy.

"Oh, you'd better believe it." said Liam. He ran towards Malloy and unleashed both fists and his knee on him. Malloy shrugged it off like it was a slap across the face.

Malloy grabbed Liam, hoisted him up, and threw him across the room.

"You know, this is the room where it happened." said Malloy. "This is where Warfield turned me. She freed me. Now, it's your turn."

"Don't think so." said Liam. He jumped back up and made another rush. This time, he tried to perform a judo throw. Unfortunately, Malloy managed to throw him instead. He ended up trying to scramble back to his feet.

"How do we get this thing out of here if we can't touch it?" asked Kelly.

"You had the right idea earlier." said Tony. "Get Declan to winch it out."

"How do we know he wasn't turned before he took off?" asked Kelly.

"It takes several hours to turn like that." said Tony. "We last saw him maybe half an hour ago."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure." said Kelly.

"I guess." said Tony. He picked up his radio and said "Declan, can you bring your copter to the window you saw earlier?"

"Hey, I just want to see if he made it." said Declan.

Declan flew the Lynx in front of the window. Tony held up his cross.

"Very funny." said Declan over the radio.

"He's fine." Tony said to Kelly.

Malloy continued to throw Liam around the room. Liam got up onto his hands and knees and tried to catch his breath.

"Why do you resist?" asked Malloy. "You'll be one of us soon. Don't be mean."

Something clicked in Liam's mind. He started to remember some things from a few nights earlier.

_"Don't be mean." said Chris. "We don't have to be mean because remember: Wherever you go, there you are."_

_"You're on a hunt for revenge." said Liam._

_"Your team needs all the help it can get." said Carl. "Your methods are soft and ineffective. The fact that you want to help these fiends instead of erradicating them tells me this much."_

_"Nothing will be gained by rushing into the fray with a head full of rage." said Liam._

"What do you say?" asked Malloy. "Will you submit?"

Liam looked up at him and said "That is the dumbest thing I've heard in my life."

He quickly sprung into a sprint and ran for the room where Tony had gone earlier. "Guys, did you get the statuette?" he yelled.

"We can't touch it!" yelled Tony. "If you touch it, it turns you into a monster!"

"I think we got the winch secured on it!" yelled Kelly. "Declan, take it away!"

Declan flipped a switch on the helicopter's control panel. The winch started to reel in. The statuette was pulled off its pedestal and towards the window.

Malloy ran into the room.

"I hope you liked your workout!" said Liam to Malloy. "But you missed your favorite show!"

"Don't believe it!" said Malloy.

Declan continued to reel in the statuette. Suddenly, Malloy jumped through the windows in the ceiling.

"Doesn't this guy ever give up?" asked Declan. He pulled away from the roof and descended until his guns aimed at Malloy. He pulled the trigger, but Malloy managed to jump over the incoming machine gun fire. The guns only managed to rip apart the structure with the windows.

Liam leaned out of the room and watched debris from the structure. "Get back!" he yelled to Tony and Kelly who were starting to crawl back through the hole. The structure then collapsed completely, filling the room with stone, broken wood, and dust.

"Wow, Declan knows how to party." said Kelly.

Malloy tried to climb up the nose of the Lynx. Declan quickly threw the joystick left and right to throw him off. Malloy managed to climb up onto the nose anyway. Declan pushed the joystick all the way forward and accelerated to 40 miles per hour, then pulled back and brought the helicopter to an abrupt halt. He was unsuccessful in getting Malloy to fall off the nose. However, he was directly over the hole where the window structure used to be.

Liam, Tony, and Kelly looked up at him. Kelly reached down, picked up a piece of stone, and threw it at Malloy. He didn't faze him.

"What now?" asked Kelly.

"I've got an idea." said Liam. He picked up another piece of stone and threw it at Malloy. Malloy caught this one and threw it back at him.

"Make this one count." said Tony as Liam got ready to throw another piece of stone.

"Right." said Liam. He pulled back and threw the stone at Malloy.

Malloy caught this stone as well, but this time, he cringed with pain. He then slipped off of the nose of the Lynx and fell through the hole where the structure used to be. He came to a landing in the pile of debris.

Malloy released the stone he'd caught. Liam had wrapped Tony's cross in it. The three men walked over to him and gave him a look.

"You know that once I heal, we'll continue this." said Malloy.

"Guess we'll just have to prevent that." said Liam. He picked up a broken piece of wood, then drove it into Malloy's chest.

Malloy let out a muffled gasp and tried to pull the makeshift stake from his chest. His final act was a failure.

"Well, I think we can get out of here now." said Liam.

"Are you going to give him last rites?" asked Kelly.

"His soul was lost long ago." said Tony as he picked up his cross.

"Ironic, isn't it?" said Liam. "He died twice in the same room."

"Guys, are you alright?" asked Declan over the radio.

Tony took his radio and said "We're okay. I think we can head for home now."

"I'll meet you outside." said Declan.

"I just thought of something." said Kelly. "How are we going to get the statuette back to the U.S. without risking anyone touching it?"

"I have an idea." said Liam.

AN:Stay tuned. The next chapter has a major battle...or two.


	6. Showdown

MASK: Fangs 

Chapter 6:Showdown

A couple of days after their fight with Malloy, Liam and Tony met Matt at the airport.

"Liam, you look like you've been through a bit." said Matt.

"On the brighter side, Floyd Malloy is history." said Liam. "On top of that, we got the statuette."

"Malloy gone?" asked Alex. "It sounds like such a shock."

"Where's the statuette?" asked Matt.

"You'll see." said Tony.

Liam and Tony showed Matt the statuette.

"Nice work, guys." said Matt. He reached out to touch it.

"No, don't." said Liam as he grabbed Matt's hand. "Touching it has very bad effects."

"That's why we're transporting it like this." said Tony.

"I see." said Matt. "Let's take it to the lab."

He then closed the statuette's carrying case: the trunk of the Minx.

----------

At VENOM headquarters, Calvin paced angrily. "How could you guys just let those bloodsuckers take my sister?" he yelled.

"It was a little out of our hands." said Weller.

"Yeah, how many times you gonna tell yourself that?" asked Calvin.

"That's enough!" said Mayhem. "Our situation is bad enough without you guys going at it like that! The vampires have managed to get their hands on the research. Cassidy is in their custody. We don't know where Kelly is."

"Hey, guys!" said Kelly as he ran into the room. He stopped when he saw the mood of the room. "What happened? Where's Cassidy?"

"The vampires got her." said Bates. "And the last of the research."

"Where have you been?" asked Darwood.

"Ireland." said Kelly. "I went there with a couple of MASK agents. We managed to capture the source of Riley's powers. They're going to use it to find a way to reverse the vampires' transformation."

This raised every eyebrow in the room. "Reverse the transformation?" asked Gilford.

"Not possible." said Carl. "Is it possible?"

"You were with two MASK agents?" asked Mayhem. "What were their names?"

Kelly tried to remember their names. He then realized Liam and Tony never used their names around him. "Uh...um...Declan!" he said. "No, wait. That was the other guy."

"It's not important." said Mayhem. "We have to prepare for battle."

"When and where?" asked Kelly.

"We don't know yet." said Darwood. "We'll get back to you on the specifics."

----------

At the reservation, the Minx was unloaded from a flatbed truck.

"How'd you get this thing into the country anyway?" asked Buddie.

"We told the officials it was being transported to a museum." said Liam.

"Now, how do we get the statuette to the lab without touching it?" asked Tony.

"There's an air shaft to the lab." said Nevada. "We removed the grates and set up a plate at the bottom so we can move it through there."

"And how do we get it into the air shaft?" asked Enzo.

"Open the trunk and I'll show you." said Bruce as he donned his mask.

Liam opened the trunk. The statuette was inside.

"Lifter, on!" called Bruce. A series of yellow rings were broadcast from the visor and circled the statuette. The rings elevated and carried the statuette to the air vent. Once it was inside, Bruce dropped it down the shaft.

At the bottom of the shaft, the statuette landed in a metal tray. Michael walked over and picked up the tray. Alex watched him.

"How long before you can find a solution?" asked Alex.

"Unknown." said Michael. "It could take a few minutes. It could take days. It could be a dead end. I suggest you find something else to do in the meantime."

Matt reported the situation to the agents. "Michael and his staff are researching the statuette. This could actually take a while, so I suggest we do something else."

"We need to prepare for a possible attack on the reservation." said Hondo.

"I think it might be best to evacuate the people." said Nevada.

"Can you do that?" asked Matt.

"It will require a lot of planning, but we might be able to pull it off." said Nevada.

"We also need to keep a watch on the vampires' lair." said Gloria.

"How's Scooter holding up?" asked Matt.

"Okay, for a guy who's been in the desert for three days." said Caitlin. "We've been bringing him supplies every once in a while."

"Good to hear." said Matt. "Liam, Tony, for your hard work on the quest to Ireland, I think you two could use some rest."

"If you think so, Matt." said Liam.

"Everyone else, if you're not working on a project that will directly benefit this operation," said Matt "you may work on any side project to pass time. That is all. Good luck."

"Hey, Buddie." said Enzo as the crowd started to disperse.

"Yeah?" asked Buddie.

"What do you say to a little auto customization?" asked Enzo as he looked at the Minx.

"Sounds like a good way to pass the time." said Buddie.

----------

Michael ran a wavelength analyzer over the statuette. He and Nevada checked their findings.

Elsewhere, Liam tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, he was too worried with the coming events.

Matt leaned on a railing at Boulder Hill headquarters. Hondo walked over to him and Matt gave him an uncertain look.

At the vampires' lair, the vampires learned of Malloy's demise at Liam's hands. Elizabeth tried her best to comfort the very upset Laura.

Buddie tried to get the Minx's engine out while Enzo used a sander to remove the paint.

Caitlin and Gloria raced through the desert. Caitlin overtook Gloria just before they made it to the Naginata. They knocked at the door, then Scooter received a couple of microwave dinners after waking up.

Nervous about the forthcoming events, Julie prayed with Tony.

----------

Finally, three days after Liam and Tony returned, Michael and Nevada looked at the vampire bikers while the statuette was wired to a makeshift contraption of some kind.

"Should we tell them?" asked Michael.

"Your findings should be definite." said Nevada.

"Very well." said Michael.

Matt was in his office trying to get some much-needed sleep. The phone rang, spoiling his plans. He answered with a curt "Yes?"

"Matt, this is Michael. I think we have made a breakthrough."

"How's that?" asked Matt.

"If you come to the lab, we'll show you." said Michael.

----------

Two hours later, Matt and Bruce were in the lab.

"The day after we received the statuette," explained Nevada "Michael made a very surprising discovery."

"What was that?" asked Bruce.

"The statuette has the same energy signature as the crystal that powers your maks." said Michael.

"Excuse me?" said Matt.

"I compared the wavelengths of the statuette's energy to that of your masks." said Michael. "They are remarkably similar. I theorize that the statuette and the energy crystal might even have similar origins."

"This has also given us an edge in discovering a way to adapt a possible cure into a weapon." said Nevada. "However, this is only a prototype." he added as he held out his hand to the contraption.

"How well does it work?" asked Bruce.

"See for yourself." said Michael. He pointed to a mirror mounted at the back of the room. There were three bikers in the cages. Two now showed up in the mirror.

"Why isn't the third showing up?" asked Matt.

"We decided it was best if we gave you a demonstration." said Nevada. "We zapped the first one shortly after we managed to rig up the weapon two days ago. We used the weapon on the second yesterday. We did that to track their progress in the transformation reversal."

Matt and Bruce looked at the two who'd been cured. The first one had gained back quite a bit of skin tone and was casually leaning against the wall of his cage. The second was still somewhat pale, but was also quite docile. The third, who Nevada indicated hadn't been cured, still maintained a vampiric appearance and tried to escape from the cage.

"Ready for that demonstration?" asked Matt.

"All you had to do was ask." said Michael as he flipped a switch. A pair of lights on the weapon started to glow. A disk embedded in the barrel started to spin. The contraption let out a low hum.

Michael aimed the weapon at the vampire biker for two seconds, then pressed another switch. A yellow beam of energy was fired from the barrel and connected with the vampire. He convulsed and twisted in the beam, then collapsed. Matt looked back at the mirror to see he now had a reflection.

"Welcome back to life, Rocky." said one of the other bikers.

"It worked." said Matt.

"We have to make this weapon mobile." said Bruce.

"We can work on it." said Nevada.

"We've already got a chariot lined up for this weapon." said Michael.

"Bruce, help them with it." said Matt. "I'll even lend a hand if I have to."

"Tell the others about this." said Bruce. "Such a breakthrough will bring much morale improvement."

"I'll get right on it." said Matt.

----------

Scooter kept watch over the vampires' lair just after night fell. He continued to listen to the bug on Max's person.

"So, they managed to rig up a reversal." he said to himself. "I'd like to see how the vampires react to this."

Just then, something punched through the side window of the Naginata and wrapped its hand around Scooter's face. Something then pulled Scooter out of the truck headfirst. Something turned out to be Melissa.

"Well, it looks like MASK has been spying on us." she said. "I knew it was a mistake letting that hick Dusty do the patrols."

----------

Alex ran down a hallway at Boulder Hill. "Matt!" he said. "I tried to contact Scooter a few minutes ago. He didn't respond."

"What?" said Matt. "Did the Naginata's security system register anything?"

"The window was broken shortly after nightfall." said Alex.

"They must have found him." said Matt. "We need to send someone to check out the situation."

"I suggest sending anyone not currently assigned to the defense of Nevada's reservation." said Alex.

"But that's just Julie, Buddie, and Enzo." said Matt.

"Unfortunately, they'll have to do." said Alex.

"Well, Julie can handle herself if she has her mask." said Matt. "I think we can send them."

"If you agree, Matt." said Alex.

In the vehicle staging area, Buddie and Enzo had cut the roof off the Minx and were now carrying it to a nearby area.

"I hope Declan likes this." said Enzo.

"If he doesn't, we'll just say it was your idea." said Buddie.

Julie came running into the staging area. "Guys, Scooter's gone missing!" she said.

"What? When?" asked Buddie.

"Maybe half an hour ago." said Julie. "Unfortunately, we're the only ones free to mount a rescue."

"It's been a while since I've gone into action." said Enzo.

"It's like riding a bike." said Buddie. "You never forget."

"Si, si." said Enzo.

"Let's go, guys." said Julie.

Julie ran over to the Orca and climbed in. Buddie got into the driver's seat of the Firecracker while Enzo started to get in the passenger's side.

"Enzo, wait." said Buddie.

"What?" asked Enzo.

"We're gonna need all the firepower we can get." said Buddie.

"Oh, I gotcha." said Enzo. He closed the door to the Firecracker and ran over to the Bumblebee.

The three of them started their vehicles and drove out of the garage.

----------

Melissa dropped Scooter in the foyer of Riley's mansion. Every vampire in the building was watching.

"Well, it appears that MASK did have a spy watching us." said Riley.

"And somehow Dusty and Kevin missed him." said Melissa.

"I swear he wasn't out there the other night." said Dusty. "He must have packed it in before we got out there and came back after we left."

"How would he know we were coming for him?" asked Gorey.

"You know MASK." said Brad. "I used to run with them."

Scooter looked up at him. "The illustrious Brad Turner, I presume." he said. "You looked so much better as a human."

"As I was saying," said Brad "they have powerful technology and could easily have hacked into our security systems or communications network."

"Not very likely." said Gorey. "Both have very sophisticated anti-hacking systems built in. It would take a professional to hack into them."

"Do I look like a novice to you?" asked Scooter.

"What do you suggest we do with him?" asked Melissa.

"He works with the group that killed Malloy!" said Laura. "We must punish him a lot!"

"Wait, what if he's not the one who killed Malloy personally?" asked Max.

Scooter looked up at him in shock.

"Does it really matter?" asked Gorey. "They kill one of us, we kill one of them."

"Why don't we turn him?" asked Elizabeth. "We could use a hacker good enough to crack our systems."

"We eliminate the intruder and bolster our ranks." said Riley. "I like it. Prepare to put that plan into action. I have other things on my plate."

"How's that?" asked Brad.

"As you may know," said Riley "MASK recently captured the statuette which was the source of our powers. What they don't realize is that I have a connection to the statuette. If I concentrate, I can trace its location."

"Why haven't you done so earlier?" asked Dusty.

"Before tonight, someone had been spying on our operations." said Riley. "If I had traced the statuette before we found this man, he would reported it to his superiors. Thus, we would have lost the element of surprise."

"Oh." said Max.

"Now that no one's listening, I shall track my prize." said Riley.

----------

On a lonely road somewhere, Calvin parked on the shoulder in the Piledriver.

"This is Calvin reporting." he said. "Nothing out there so far."

"This is Kelly reporting." said the voice on the radio. "It's a little too quiet out here."

"This is Dagger." said the next voice. "I also have no action to report."

Suddenly, the Orca, Firecracker, and Bumblebee raced past the Piledriver.

"This is Calvin again. Something just happened. I'm right on it."

He put the Piledriver into gear and took off after the MASK agents.

"'Ey, didn't we just pass that bus we saw at the branch office?" asked Enzo.

"Yeah, I think we just did." said Buddie.

"He's following us." said Julie. "If he follows us, maybe he can help us."

----------

At Riley's mansion, Scooter was now strung up between a pair of pillars under the second-floor balcony. Riley himself was meditating.

"Why don't you just do it already?" asked Scooter.

"Not just yet." said Elizabeth. "We have to make sure our feeding session meshes with Riley's plans."

"I hope it takes him all night." said Scooter.

"I know where my statuette is." said Riley.

"Crud." muttered Scooter.

"I will now organize a raid on the location." said Riley. "Vanessa, Melissa, Gorey, and Dusty will join me."

"What about the rest of us?" asked Brad.

"Brad, you will stay here and keep watch over the others." said Riley. "If you run into any trouble, Elizabeth is here to back you up. She will remain anyway since she has to stay to comfort Laura. Laura is a little too torn up about Malloy, so I'm letting her stay out of this one."

"When are you leaving?" asked Elizabeth.

"Right now." said Riley. "Come."

Riley and his selected operatives made their way to the vehicle staging area. He was now wearing a black jumpsuit.

"Is the Demon finished?" asked Riley as they entered.

"I put the final touches on it last night." said Gorey.

"How did it turn out?" asked Riley.

"Take a look for yourself." said Gorey as he showed Riley to a Ferrari Enzo. The car was painted in pearlescent red with yellow and white racing stripes down the center. A spoiler similar to the one found on the F40 was mounted to the rear of the car. The wheels sported Rolf Blix LX4 rims.

"It is...satisfactory." said Riley. "We shall leave at once."

The rest of his group climbed into their vehicles. Dusty's was the Durango from the patrol the other night. They started the vehicles and drove out.

The vehicles took to the road and made their way towards the reservation. Just up the road were the Orca, Firecracker, Bumblebee, and Piledriver.

The radar in the Bumblebee picked up the vampires' vehicles almost immediately.

"Uh oh!" said Enzo. "We've got a wolfpack heading our way!"

"I see a rest area up ahead." said Julie. "We can hide out there for a few seconds."

The four vehicles pulled off and hid in the rest area. Riley and his group drove by a few seconds later.

After they passed, Buddie pulled alongside Enzo and said "I think I saw your namesake in there."

"Definitely a new piece of equipment." said Enzo.

"I think Riley would only allow himself to drive that." said Julie. "It makes me wonder what's going on there."

"Hey, you guys need any assistance?" asked Calvin as he hung out of the door of the Piledriver.

"Maybe." said Buddie. "What's in it for you?"

"Those vamps took my sister the other night." said Calvin. "I need to find her. She means very much to me."

"You certainly realize that this is dangerous work going into their lair." said Enzo.

"Well, surely so do you." said Calvin.

"Hmm, touche." said Julie. "Okay, I guess you can come along."

"Alright." said Calvin. "Let's get cracking."

"Think we're going to find his sister?" asked Buddie.

"The man is very determined." said Enzo. "He will find her. No question about it."

"Think she'll be alive?" asked Buddie.

"No." said Enzo grimly.

----------

At the reservation...

"Julie's informed me that the vampires are coming." said Hondo. "You guys had better get under cover."

"Understood." said Jeremy.

The agents climbed into their cars and started them. They then went to hide them in numerous carports and garages. After parking the Hurricane, Hondo ran to the lab.

"How's the weapon coming?" he asked.

"We've got the design planned out very well." said Bruce. "We've started to assemble the weapon with whatever we could find. Designing a mount for it is the tricky part."

"Need a hand?" asked Hondo.

"By all means." said Bruce.

Hondo began looking over the place where the mount would go. "I think we can house the action here." he said.

"I agree with that suggestion." said Michael. "Have you heard from Brad about the invasion?"

"Not yet." said Hondo. "I really hope it's because he can't get a message to us."

"I hope so as well." said Bruce. "He's my friend too."

----------

At Fox Industries Headquarters...

"Anything to report?" asked Mayhem.

"Calvin's reported that Riley is leading a group of vampires somewhere." said Darwood. "He doesn't know where, though."

"What could Riley be doing?" asked Mayhem. "He usually doesn't leave the safety of his mansion unless it's important."

"Need I remind you of the recovery of his statuette by myself and two MASK agents?" asked Kelly.

"Shut up..." said Mayhem before thinking of his words. "Wait, that's actually a good point. The goal of his excursion is obvious. He's going to secure his statuette."

"Miles, this would be the perfect time to intercept Riley and destroy him." said Darwood.

"We're short two Lucases." said Mayhem. "But we're still strong enough to take down a small group of vampires."

"Very well, men." said Darwood. "Prepare to saddle up. We are going into battle."

"We?" asked Bates. "WE'RE going into battle? Or are you saying YOU'RE going into battle?"

"Bates, this is serious." said Darwood. "We need to take these guys on or the vampire war may never end."

"He has a point." said Weller. "Everytime, it's you guys do this, you guys do that. You're a commander, but not a leader. You've got to take initiative. You have to lead by example. You need to earn your men's respect."

"So, you need to respect me, hmmm?" said Darwood. "I'll see you in the vehicle staging area in five minutes. The Fox is mine."

"It's about time." said Mayhem. "Let's go for this."

----------

Julie and her group came upon the Naginata. They climbed out of their cars and walked over to the vehicle.

"They got him." said Julie. "It doesn't look like he turned on the surveillance system, though."

"If Max's bug is still intact, maybe we can find out what's going on in there." said Enzo.

"Worth a try." said Julie.

Inside the mansion, the remaining vampires looked Scooter over.

"If you spare me, I can help you out." he said.

"How's that?" asked someone.

"Well, I've got intricate knowledge of the inner workings of MASK." said Scooter. "If you decide to leave me alive for who knows how long, I'd be happy to divulge as much information as I can."

"Why can't you give us that information when you're with us?" asked Elizabeth.

"We at MASK have developed a method of blocking out this information in just such a case." said Scooter.

"Say it." whispered Brad.

"Yes, he's right." said Max. "When I was at MASK, I learned so much. Now that I'm a creature of the night, I remember nada."

Brad flashed him a thumbs-up.

"He has a point." said Elizabeth. "We could talk with him for a few hours, learn everything we need to know, gain a sizable advantage. Ah, but who has the time? Bite him."

"Oh, come on!" yelled Scooter.

Outside...

"We have to hurry." said Julie.

"I'm going in." said Buddie as he ran for the Firecracker.

"I've got your back." said Enzo as he jumped into the Bumblebee.

"We'll stay out here in case you need backup." said Julie.

Buddie started the Firecracker while Enzo started the Bumblebee. They both put on their masks and drove towards the mansion.

"How are we getting in there?" asked Enzo over the radio.

"Land in the Firecracker's bed and I'll show you." said Buddie.

"Got it." said Enzo. He pushed the transformation button on the Bumblebee's dashboard. The rear of the car extended to the sides revealing rocket pods on either side. A pair of rotor blades elevated from the rear of the cargo bay and folded into place. The wheels rotated downward and the side skirts lowered to become landing skids. The front clip swung down and a gun turret lowered from the grill.

Enzo maneuvered the Bumblebee into the Firecracker's bed. Buddie continued to charge towards the front door. "Penetrator, on!" he called.

The Firecracker and Bumblebee were engulfed in a yellow energy field just before they were about to crash into the front door. They ended up passing right through it and ended up in the foyer. The vampires all turned to the two vehicles that had now entered their mansion.

The Bumblebee lifted out of the Firecracker's bed. The Firecracker's body then rose off its chassis revealing a pair of guns on the rear. A pair of guns extended from the grill and the doors swung open. The spare tire in the bed split and blades extended from it.

"The cavalry's arrived!" said Scooter.

Enzo took aim at one of the pillars Scooter was tied to. He fired off a shot and shot off part of the pillar. Scooter slipped his bonds through the break and reached over to untie his other wrist. He then lowered himself and untied his legs. As soon as he was free, he ran for the safety of his teammates.

"Thanks for showing up." said Scooter. "Things were about to get bad."

"Fear not, paisan." said Enzo. "Because you are under the protection of Castaldi the Night Stalker and Buddie the Vampire Slayer."

"How long have you been saving that one?" asked Buddie.

"Since we met." said Enzo.

"Let's take them down!" said Laura.

The vampires started to approach the two.

"Let's try to get out of here!" said Scooter.

"It's gonna take a while before my mask recharges." said Buddie.

"What do we do?" asked Max.

"Try to stall the vampires a little more." said Brad.

"Good idea." said Max. He turned to the other vampires and said "Fellows, we now face a serious threat from the forces that seek to destroy us! We must find a way to defeat these nefarious warriors! To do nothing will result in our destruction! We shall band together for our survival! Victory shall be ours!"

He quickly slapped his pants pocket for effect. Unfortunately, that's what knocked the bug out of his pocket.

"Oh, the listening device!" he said. "I completely forgot about that!"

"What listening device?" asked Laura.

"I was supposed to plant a listening device just before you attacked me." said Max. "Of course, I don't remember this...due to becoming a vampire and all."

"How do you remember that?" asked Laura as she picked up the bug.

"You're kinda smart for someone with the mind of an eight-year-old." said Max.

"Thank you!" said Laura just before she crushed the bug.

Outside...

"Great, there goes our surveillance." said Julie.

"Sorry I have to do this." said Calvin as he put his hand against Julie's chest. "But I have to find my sister. Leech, on!"

A green glow surrounded his glove and Julie crumbled to the ground. Calvin got back into the Piledriver and drove towards the mansion.

Inside...

"You've been betraying us since you were turned." said Laura.

"Well, since I was never on your side in the first place..." said Max.

"You have!" said Laura. "You have! You have! You have!"

Outside, Calvin drove towards the front of the mansion at high speed. As he gripped the wheel, he chanted "Uh, uh, uh. Another one rides the bus."

Inside...

"You can't go on like this." said Max. "These are humans you're preying on, just like you used to be."

"We have been given a gift." said Laura. "The humans are supposed to be our prey."

Enzo looked over his shoulder at the Piledriver approaching through the window. "Uh, speaking of preying," he said "you should either pray or move."

Buddie moved the Firecracker away from the front of the building and Enzo elevated out of the way. Seconds later, the Piledriver ripped through the mansion's facade. The door opened and Calvin stepped out.

"Well, that was subtle." said Buddie.

A vampire dove for Calvin. He looked up and called "Leech, fire!" A green energy bolt fired from his mask and knocked the vampire out of the air.

"Bye." said Max as he jumped away from Laura.

"'Ey, it's a full on free-for-all!" said Enzo. He started to maneuver the Bumblebee around the foyer aiming at the vampires.

A pair of vampires attacked Calvin. He grabbed one and threw him into the other.

Scooter was the next target. He blocked a strike by another vampire and returned with a spin kick. He then tried to regain his balance.

Buddie tried using the Firecracker's hypno-lights, but they had no effect on the vampires. He was forced to use the rear freeze cannons as the nose guns were mounted too high.

Outside, Julie tried to pull herself off the ground. She took a few breaths, then climbed back into the Orca. She started the car and drove towards the mansion.

Inside, another vampire tried to jump on Max. Enzo shot him out of the air. "Thanks, bud." said Max.

Another vampire jumped onto the side of the Bumblebee and tried to grab Enzo through the open window. Enzo turned to him and called "Splinter, fire!" A wooden stake shot from his mask and took the vampire off the vehicle.

Max jumped and grabbed the railing for the second floor. He then pulled himself up and onto the balcony. Laura simply jumped up and over the railing.

"You wouldn't be trying to avoid me, are you?" she asked.

"It was worth a try." said Max.

Calvin was grabbed by two vampires at once. He grabbed them both and shoved them into the wall. Scooter grabbed a piece of wooden debris and drove it through one of their hearts. Calvin threw the other one onto the stake.

Julie then drove in. She climbed out of the car and held onto the door to steady herself.

"Uh oh, here comes the sun." said Enzo.

"Julie, are you alright?" asked Buddie.

"Okay enough to add my input." said Julie.

Several vampires looked at her in absolute fright. They started to take cover.

Max had trained with Julie and knew what was about to happen. "Brad, take cover." he said.

Brad nodded and dove behind the Piledriver. Max joined him. Laura overheard him and took cover behind a knocked over table.

Julie took a few deep breaths, then called "Sunburst, on!" She started to levitate and glow yellow, then a massive burst of light shot from her. Buddie and Enzo had shielded their eyes ahead of time. Scooter and Calvin were behind the Piledriver. The vampires were all stunned.

Julie fell to the floor. "That sure did it." she muttered.

Scooter and Calvin walked out from behind the Piledriver and looked around. "Max, are you alright?" yelled Scooter.

"Yeah, I'm good." said Max as he climbed out from behind the Piledriver. Brad was with him.

"No flippin' way." said Buddie. He jumped from the Firecracker and walked over to Brad. "Brad, is that really you?"

"Don't look at me." said Brad. "I don't want you to see me this way."

"Hey, hey, it's alright." said Buddie. "We're trying to fix this. We can make you human again."

"You think so?" asked Brad.

"I don't kid like that." said Buddie.

"What about me?" asked Max as Scooter helped Julie up. "Can you fix me too?"

"We can try." said Scooter.

"Why do you resist?" asked Laura as she came out of cover. "You are all going to join us. Prepare to..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Someone struck her from behind and knocked her unconcious.

"Who..." asked Max.

Elizabeth walked out of the shadows with a big piece of debris. She walked up behind Laura and said "Sorry about that. I had to stop her from wasting time attacking you. Although, I must admit that was the second worst thing I've ever done to her."

"If you don't mind me asking, what was the worst?" asked Calvin.

"Turning her." said Elizabeth.

"How's that?" asked Max.

"After I was turned," explained Elizabeth "I wanted nothing more than to return to humanity. I thought the problem was medical, so I turned a medical student thinking she would be properly motivated to find a cure. But it backfired and her mind snapped."

"Before that, you also killed two of our agents." said Enzo. "Care to explain that?"

"I was trying to build my own group of vampires seeking a cure." said Elizabeth. "Unfortunately, I was not very good at creating other vampires. I went too far and killed them by mistake. I cannot begin to express my regrets."

"We may have just found a cure." said Buddie. "What do you think of that?"

"What?" said Elizabeth. "You found a cure? You found a way out of this neverending torture?"

"We'll bring you to the cure." said Buddie. "But you've got to keep from attacking us."

"I can't ask you to believe me." said Elizabeth. "But I'll do my best to earn your trust."

"We have to go if we're going to prevent Riley from destroying it." said Scooter.

"Can I come too?" asked Brad.

"If I know Matt," said Buddie "you'll be the first one cured."

"I'm coming too." said Max.

"Bring Laura." said Elizabeth. "We recovered your vehicle."

"The Ape? Really?" asked Max. He ran over to Laura and picked her up.

Julie fell against the Orca.

"I think I'd better drive." said Scooter.

"Good idea." said Julie.

"Coming?" asked Buddie.

"I've got my own vehicle." said Brad.

"Wait, what about my sister?" asked Calvin.

A female vampire with brown hair tapped him on the shoulder. "If you're refering to the blonde girl they brought in a few days ago, they took her away the following night. They went to Flagstaff."

"Thanks." said Calvin.

Scooter started the Orca. Julie laid in the passenger seat.

"Good thing he left a hole big enough to drive a bus through." said Scooter.

Max carried Laura to the vehicle staging area. Brad and Elizabeth came as well.

"I can't believe you were on our side the whole time." said Brad.

"Back atcha." said Elizabeth.

Max set Laura in the front passenger seat of the Ape. He then climbed in the driver's seat.

"So, that's your vehicle." said Elizabeth.

Brad had climbed onto a Ducati 999R that had black/orange color shift paint. Graphics of white arches adorned the Hotbodies Racing cowling. "Like it?" asked Brad. "It's called the Nighthawk."

Max drove out first. Brad and Elizabeth followed. Scooter drove out of the foyer. Enzo transformed the Bumblebee back into a car and followed him. Buddie did the same with the Firecracker and joined him. Calvin got back into the Piledriver and followed them, widening the hole in the process.

----------

VENOM's agents were in the boardroom at Fox Industries Headquarters. Darwood ran in. He was wearing a red jumpsuit with a white midsection and a black chest area.

"Look alive, men." he said. "I just heard from Calvin. Riley and his forces are about to attack MASK's laboratory where they've set up a possible vampire cure themselves."

"What's the big deal?" asked Rax. "Didn't you say yourself that the research was just a red herring?"

"MY research was." said Darwood. "However, MASK came upon something real. I think it is in our best interests to help them protect it."

"You ARE coming, right?" asked Bates.

"This is a promise I intent to keep." said Darwood. "Let's go."

----------

At Nevada's reservation, many of the MASK agents were asleep. Alex had used the computer in the Rhino to project a possible arrival time for the vampires. He had then set an alarm clock to wake himself up forty minutes earlier. It went off.

Alex woke up and climbed out of the Rhino. He looked around and saw the vampires hadn't arrived yet. "Thank goodness my calculations were correct." he said.

He then went around waking several agents up. After everyone else was up, he went into the lab to wake up Bruce, Hondo, Nevada, Tony, and Michael. He was surprised that Hondo, Nevada, Tony, and Michael were asleep, but Bruce was wide awake.

"What are you still doing up?" asked Alex.

"I'm not needed in battle." said Bruce. "But designs and engineering is my forte. I let Nevada and Michael rest while I continued working on the vampire cure."

"Is it almost complete?" asked Alex as he shook Nevada gently.

"Almost." said Bruce. "Once it's finished, we can install it in the Hunter."

"Oh, you've named it." said Alex as he shook Michael awake.

"Matt liked it." said Bruce. "Although considering it's his code name, it makes sense."

"I'll lend you a hand as soon as I make sure everyone's awake." said Alex.

"Thank you." said Bruce.

----------

"How much further?" asked Max over the radio.

"Not much." said Buddie. "Riley still has a major lead on us."

"There's a lake next to the reservation." said Scooter. "We can take a shortcut across it."

Julie let out a moan.

"You alright?" asked Scooter.

"I don't think so." said Julie. "I think I'm going to need to rest somewhere."

"I'll see if I can find a place." said Scooter.

In the Ape, Max kept his hands on the wheel and took a glance at Laura. She was starting to stir awake.

"Oh, what happened?" she asked.

"I came to my senses." lied Max. "We're on our way to stop MASK from curing us."

"Yay!" yelled Laura.

"Uh, yeah." said Max. "We're on our way to destroy that piece of equipment."

"Alright, we're gonna get those guys!" cheered Laura.

"Oh yeah, someone is going down." said Max.

----------

The Demon raced up to the entrance to the reservation. The other vehicles were right behind it.

"We'll do this like we normally do it." said Riley. "They face off with the Demon, Nightshade, Nightbeast, and Nightmare while Melissa sneaks in through the lake in the Night Terror."

"And while everyone's fighting you guys," said Melissa "I destroy the curing ray."

"On your word, Riley." said Dusty.

"Now." said Riley.

The Demon and the other vehicles raced into action. What Riley did not know was that Matt was keeping watch with his Spectrum mask. "Riley's here!" he said into his radio.

"Perfect timing." said Michael. Just seconds earlier, he and Nevada had finished welding the mount onto the curing ray.

"We're not done yet." said Nevada. "We still need to get the ray into the Hunter."

"How hard could that be?" asked Michael.

"Not very." said Bruce. "We just need to open the trunk, put it in, and bolt it in place."

"We have to hurry." said Nevada.

In their hiding places, the MASK agents started their vehicles. V-6, V-8, and V-12 engines roared to life.

"Move out!" ordered Matt as he ran for the Thunder Hawk.

Immediately, the Rhino, Tempest, Wyvern, Chupacabra, Shark, and Firefly raced out of various carports and garages. Matt reached the Thunder Hawk and jumped in. He started it and raced out of cover.

Riley entered the reservation first and was surprised that MASK had established such a presence. "Well, it looks like the party has begun." he said as he pushed the transformation button.

The Demon's front quarters extended to the sides and retracted towards the rear. Laser cannons were revealed on the front. The rear quarters extended to the sides to become jet engines. The wheels rotated downward and a pair of wings extended sideways from the chassis. The rear wing rose to become a tail section. The Demon then lifted off.

Warfield transformed the Nightshade and Dusty transformed the Nightbeast. The front flipped forward and the headlights flipped up with guns extending from them. The passenger compartment rose and the wheelbase contracted. The roof rose and a pair of cannons extended from it. A missile bank was revealed in the rear.

The Thunder Hawk, Tempest, Wyvern, and Firefly transformed and took off. The Rhino and Chupacabra also transformed.

"Matt, Riley seems to be engaging us in battle." said Alex over the radio.

"I wonder what he's planning?" asked Matt.

Gorey drove the Nightmare into the reservation and parked near the lab. (He didn't know it was there, he just chose what he deemed an ideal place to set up.) He then transformed the Nightmare.

As Nevada and Michael tried to bolt the curing ray into place, they saw dust fall from the ceiling.

"Someone just drove over the top of the elevator." said Nevada.

"No, it looked more like someone dropped something on the elevator." said Michael.

"I'll check the security camera." said Hondo. He checked the camera and saw what had happened. "Uh oh, Gorey's set up the Nightmare on top of us."

Michael ran over to take a look. "At that angle, raising the elevator will still work." he said. "In fact, I think it will help our cause a little."

While the MASK agents engaged the vampires, Melissa watched. "Now seems like a good time." she said to herself. She drove towards the lake and transformed the Night Terror as it slipped into the water.

Gloria was watching from the reservation and went into action. The Shark hopped off a small rise and flew into the lake. It transformed in mid-air. A pair of fins extended from the hood as the front wheels rotated up. The rear wheels extended to the sides and rotated rearward to become thrusters. Another pair of fins extended from the rear and flipped up. More fins extended from the wheel wells.

"Now to make my way to the..." said Melissa as she maneuvered the Night Terror towards her target. She was quite shocked when the Shark appeared in front of her. "Ah! Again?" she yelled.

"Nice try." said Gloria.

"How did she know I was going to do this?" asked Melissa to herself.

Matt had Riley in his sights. He fired off a shot, but Riley dodged it. He continued his pursuit of Riley with Julio backing him up.

"That thing is amazing in the air." said Julio.

"We could use some backup." said Matt. "What happened to Caitlin and Liam?"

"We're taking on Warfield." said Caitlin as she performed a loop, breaking a missile lock from the Nightshade.

"The Tempest wasn't designed for aerial combat." said Liam as he attempted to fire on the Nightshade.

Suddenly, the Demon made a quick spin in the air and came for Matt. Riley fired off a pair of missiles. Matt went for the trigger to his guns, but the missiles exploded in midair before he could pull it.

"What?" asked Riley.

Matt was also surprised by the quick destruction of the missiles. Shortly afterward, the Switchblade flew past him.

"I can't believe I just saved the leader of MASK." muttered Mayhem.

"Glad you could join us, Mayhem." said Matt.

"I figured this was the least of two evils." said Mayhem.

The rest of VENOM came racing in. Dagger parked the Jackhammer and let Gilford out. He turned to the agents and said "Transform and attack!"

The various VENOM vehicles rolled into action led by Darwood in the Fox. The car's doors folded up and out to become wings. The rear wheels rotated rearward to become jet thrusters. A vertical stabilizer extended from the rear window. The front wheels rotated to reveal canards and the front bumper folded down to reveal laser blasters.

After Darwood took to the sky, Kelly followed him in the Tornado. The Jackhammer, Stinger, Iguana, Jackal, Roach, and Zombie also transformed and strode into combat.

As the Buzzard split into three, Rax drove the Caribe into the lake and transformed it. Melissa noticed him almost immediately and groaned at the thought of having to face off with both him and Gloria.

"What?" asked Warfield. "It's Mayhem!"

The Roach hobbled over to the Nightmare. Weller threw both of the robot's arms against the battle tank and tried to shove it towards the wall. Gorey, however, shoved back with more force.

"Use your mask, Weller!" said Mayhem over the radio. "Oh, the irony." he mused.

"Got it!" said Weller. "Powerhouse, on!"

A yellow energy field surrounded the Roach. Weller was now able to push the tank back to the Nightmare's gun station.

"Riley, VENOM's joining forces with MASK!" said Gorey into his radio. "We're starting to get a little outgunned!"

"The odds just piled up against us!" said Riley. "But we have to destroy that cure! Our very existance depends on it!"

"Are you sure?" asked Gorey. "It doesn't look like the situation could get any worse!"

Deep below him, the situation was about to get much worse. Michael had tightened the final bolt on the curing ray. "It's in!" he announced.

"Close the trunk and get in the driver's seat!" ordered Nevada. "I'll see you topside."

As Nevada closed the doors to the cargo container, Michael threw off his lab coat and climbed into the Hunter. Nevada then threw a lever and the cargo container started to rise.

Gorey felt the Nightmare shake. "What was that?" he asked.

That's when the cargo container pushed through the ground. On top of the container was a small shelf of wood and a couple of inches of dirt.

"No." muttered Riley.

As the container rose, it also lifted one of the Nightmare's stabilizers. Within seconds, the cannon ended up leaning at a 30 degree angle.

Nevada and Hondo ran out of the lab as the container stopped elevating. "I've got the Hurricane!" said Hondo. "You get to ride shotgun in the Hunter!"

"No argument there!" said Nevada.

He ran over to the container to open it, but Weller used the guns on the Roach's arms to shoot off the hinges and locks. The doors fell off immediately.

"Thank you very much." said Nevada. He ran into the container and climbed into the Hunter. "Let 'er rip." he said.

Michael started the engine. A thunderous roar greated him. A second later, he pushed the accelerator and the screech of rubber on metal was heard.

Out of the container came the Hunter. It was a black metallic '68 Plymouth Road Runner with white stripes running along the sides and American Racing Wolverine rims.

"Where's the most advantageous sniper's position?" asked Michael.

"Ironicly enough, on top of the container." said Nevada.

"Is there enough space up there for this thing to deploy?" asked Michael.

"There should be." said Nevada.

"Hold on." said Michael. He turned the wheel sharply and sent the Hunter racing down a road.

"If we go this way, it'll take us behind the lab." said Nevada. "From there, we can jump to the top of the cargo container."

Hondo got behind them in the Hurricane. "I'll cover you." he said. He activated the car's transformation. The body rose and revealed an extra pair of wheels. The headlights extended forward to become cannons and the grill slid open to become a radar scanner. Another cannon extended from the windshield on the passenger side.

"Vanessa, I'll let you take him." ordered Riley. "Hayes, back her up."

Warfield flew over the route taken by the Hunter. She took aim at the vehicle, then fired. However, she didn't count on Michael making a sharp turn into a side road. Hondo kept on his tail while Warfield had to make a maneuver to catch up.

At this point, the Bumblebee flew in for a reconaissance run. After Enzo saw the chaos, he returned to the convoy on the highway.

"It's a madhouse out there!" he reported.

"Guess we showed up just in time." said Buddie.

"Here we go." said Brad. He pushed the transformation button on the Nighthawk. The cowling split and folded down to become a pair of wings. The front forks became a pair of laser cannons. A pair of jets extended from the engine and he took off.

Elizabeth followed suit, then Buddie and Calvin. Scooter drove towards the lake. As he approached, an explosion came out.

"Yeah, the action is heating up." he said.

He drove the Orca into the lake. Before it hit the surface of the water, it transformed. The wheels retracted and the fenders extended sideways. A pair of stabilizers extended from the side skirts. The hood scoop slid forward to reveal a pair of guns. The trunklid rose slightly to reveal a depth charge launcher.

"I've got three blips on sonar." he reported. "But which one's the Night Terror?"

"It's this one." said Julie as she pointed to one of the shapes. "After using this thing long enough, you tend to recognize shapes."

"Thanks." said Scooter. He aimed the Orca over the blip indicated and released a pair of depth charges.

"She's holding her own very well." said Gloria.

"Not a major problem." said Melissa. "I'll be in the lab in no time."

Suddenly, one of the Orca's depth charges hit the Night Terror's thruster, disabling it.

"Now what?" asked Melissa.

The second depth charge hit the Night Terror's roof, causing a hull breach.

"Who did that?" yelled Melissa.

Gloria got on her radio. "Thanks, Jul." she said.

"Thank Scooter." said Julie. "He's in the driver's seat this time."

Warfield lined up for an attack run on the Hunter. Hondo stopped and popped open the Hurricane's roof. He aimed the cutting lasers mounted to the panel at the sky in anticipation of the Nightshade's pass.

"She's coming in on us!" said Nevada.

"I see her." said Michael. "Steady. Steady. Now!"

Warfield fired ahead of the Hunter, but Michael surprised her by hitting the brakes. The Nightshade's weapons fire completely missed the Hunter.

Hondo fired the cutting laser and took out the Nightshade's engine. Warfield tried to keep it in the air, but was forced to eject.

Riley let out a groan. "Hayes, why didn't you back her up?" he yelled.

"I didn't catch your radio message." said Dusty. "I was too busy reporting vital information to the MASK agents. By the way, I'd like to tender my resignation."

Riley groaned again.

Michael made a quick right turn towards the back of the lab. "Good thing we built it into the side of the hill." said Nevada.

"Where am I going?" asked Michael.

"It should be to the left of the pole." said Nevada.

Michael saw the pole Nevada had mentioned. He aimed for the pole and angled off to the left. After he drove up the hill and across the roof, he flew off the roof and landed on the cargo container.

"Now the long anticipated moment." said Michael. He pushed the transformation button. The wheels folded down to become stabilizer platforms. The front clip rose to reveal a pair of laser cannons. The passenger compartment rose and the roof and doors retracted revealing the curing ray. Next to the ray was the passenger seat in which Nevada was seated.

"I hope this works." said Nevada.

"Who's your first target?" asked Michael.

The Nightbeast drove into view.

"How about Dusty?" asked Nevada.

"Go for it." said Michael.

Nevada aimed the curing ray at the Nightbeast.

"Please work." whispered Dusty.

Nevada fired the ray and the Nightbeast was bathed in yellow light. Dusty growled in pain. The ray shut off three seconds later. Dusty took a few breaths, then looked at the Nightbeast's rearview. He was pleasantly surprised to see his reflection.

"Oooo-weee!" he cheered. "Seventeen years of torture undone!"

Riley looked on in horror. "Destroy that emplacement!" he ordered.

Hondo had driven onto the roof of the lab. He got on the radio. "Dusty, are you okay?"

"Better than I've been in a long time!" replied Dusty. "Whatcha need, Hondo?"

Hondo smiled. "First of all, to hear your voice." he said. "Second, cover that gun!"

"No problem!" said Dusty.

Elizabeth looked on in delight. "They cured Dusty!" she announced.

"Your turn." said Brad.

"Right." she said.

"How soon can I fire this again?" asked Nevada.

"There should be a two minute waiting period between shots." said Michael.

"It's almost up." said Nevada.

Riley banked towards the Hunter. Michael aimed for him with the hood cannons. "How much longer?" he asked.

"About twenty seconds." said Nevada.

Riley readied the Demon's guns on the Hunter. Nevada watched the timer click down.

Elizabeth flew in on an intercept course. "I'm next, pal." she said.

She fired on Riley as she approached the Hunter. Riley ignored her and fired on the Hunter.

Just then, the timer ran out and Nevada fired another shot at the Demon. Unfortunately, Elizabeth flew in front of the shot and was hit instead. She winced and convulsed in her seat. Nevada shut it off just in time to see the shots from the Demon heading towards him.

Nevada was blown out of the seat. He landed on the container next to the Hunter, but stopped just short of falling off.

Elizabeth checked herself in the mirror and saw a reflection. She let out a sigh of relief. Riley continued on his path.

"Are you alright?" asked Michael.

"I think my arm's broken." groaned Nevada. "I can't use the curing ray."

"I can." said Hondo. He jumped to the container and climbed into the Hunter's gunner's seat.

"Give it all you got." said Nevada.

Riley turned around to make another run. Brad flew towards the Hunter. "Oh, this is just poetic." he said.

"I've got thirty seconds." said Hondo.

"And I've got an unknown bogie coming in." said Michael.

"It's Brad." said Hondo.

"Gorey, why aren't you doing anything about that gun?" yelled Riley.

"I can't hit it from this angle!" replied Gorey.

Brad flew towards the Hunter and slowed down. Hondo watched as the timer ran out again.

"Hello, boys." said Brad. "I'm back!"

Hondo nodded to him. He returned with a thumbs-up and pulled up.

Hondo fired the curing ray again. Brad was bathed in it for three seconds, then Hondo shut it down. Brad buzzed the Hunter, narrowly avoiding it.

"Not Brad too!" cried Laura.

"Yeah, that thing's kicking tail!" said Max.

"We have to stop it!" said Laura. "Otherwise, there won't be any of us left!"

"Actually, that's kinda the plan." said Max as he steered towards the Hunter.

"What are you doing?" yelled Laura. "You'll get us killed!"

"Quite the opposite." said Max. "That's what's going to return us to life." He drove within view of the Hunter.

"You said you came to your senses!" yelled Laura.

"Hey, I will NEVER come to my senses." said Max. "Just ask my cousin."

"You're a liar!" whined Laura. "Liar! Liar! Liar!"

"Come on, time to grow up." said Max.

Hondo watched the Ape approach. "Ten more seconds." he said.

"Stop!" yelled Laura. "Don't do it!" She tried to open the door.

"No, no." said Max. "It's cool. It's okay."

"It's not okay!" said Laura.

Hondo fired the curing ray at the Ape. Max and Laura were bathed in it for three seconds. Hondo shut it down after that.

Liam saw this and howled with delight.

Laura crumbled down in the seat and moaned "Max...you...creep."

"Laura?" asked Max. "LAURA?"

Gorey was forced to convert the Nightmare back into a fire engine. "Riley, we have to get out of here!" he said. "Our numbers are being torn to shreds! We're getting decimated! I'm getting out!"

"Leave if you want." growled Riley. "I will be the one to destroy the enemy of our cause."

"Well, good luck with that." said Gorey. He started to drive away.

"Now, let's see how that thing likes a missile salvo." said Riley.

"He's coming in for another pass!" announced Hondo. "And I've still got about forty seconds until another shot!"

"I've got him." said Michael.

"I'll help." said Liam.

Michael and Liam fired on the Demon as it came in. The Demon returned fire, but missed. Michael scored a few hits, but failed to do any significant damage. Liam, however, scored a hit on the tail section and shot off one of the elevators.

"What?" he asked. "Matt, it's Liam. Riley's vehicle is weak in the tail section. Hit him there."

"Got it, Liam." said Matt.

Matt flew towards the Demon while Caitlin backed him up. Mayhem and Darwood were with him as well.

"Not exactly a fair fight." said Mayhem. "Just the way I like it."

The Demon circled back and locked onto the Hunter. Hondo turned the curing ray towards it. "Problem." he said. "He's coming in above our maximum elevation."

"As well as mine." said Michael.

"If he takes out the Hunter, we've lost." said Caitlin.

"Take him down!" said Darwood.

Matt, Caitlin, Mayhem, and Darwood fired their guns on the Demon. As each shot connected, the tailplane started to come apart. After a few seconds, a warning flashed in the Demon's cockpit telling Riley that the engine was nearing critical damage and would possibly self-destruct if it took more damage.

"Ah, blast you all!" he growled, then broke off the attack.

"We should chase him down." said Darwood.

"No, we've already dealt him a serious blow." said Mayhem. "It's been a long night. We should go home."

"I guess you're right." said Darwood.

The VENOM agents transformed their vehicles back into civilian mode and left.

"Men, we've accomplished a major victory tonight." said Mayhem. "Everybody return to base and we will rest."

"No." said Calvin. "My sister is out there somewhere. I need to find her."

"Well then, go after her." said Mayhem. "Come back when you've found her."

The Piledriver went one way while the rest of VENOM went the other. Meanwhile, the MASK vehicles transformed back into civilian form and returned to the battle area.

The agents left their vehicles and gathered around. Brad, Dusty, and Elizabeth had joined them. Scooter helped Julie out of the Orca. Bruce and Tony left the laboratory.

"Great." said Tony. "The turning point of the war and I sleep through it."

"Brad! Dusty!" yelled Matt as he ran over to them. "I thought all this time I'd never see you again."

"We thought that as well." said Brad.

"It's good to have a reflection again." said Dusty.

"Max!" yelled Liam.

"It's Laura." said Max. Laura was laying on the ground unconcious.

"What happened?" asked Liam.

"I dunno." said Max. "We were cured and she just passed out."

"Maybe there was something about her not wanting to be cured." said Elizabeth.

"I guess I'll just have to fix that."

They all turned to see who said that: Warfield.

"What?" said Hondo. "I shot you down!"

"I punched out." said Warfield. "I thought I might be able to change your little peripeteia and destroy your new weapon."

"You're going to try to get the Hunter?" asked Michael.

"Just you against maybe a couple dozen of us?" asked Alex.

"You're forgeting what I am." said Vanessa.

Gloria tried to launch an attack on her, but she managed to jump to the other side of the field.

"Blaster, fire!" called Hondo.

Warfield jumped out of the way of his shot. "You still haven't learned after twenty years, have you?" she asked. She landed behind Caitlin and grabbed her. "Anyone tries it and she joins us." warned Warfield.

"Don't try it, guys." said Matt.

"You know," said Warfield "I think I'll have her join us anyway."

"Join this." said Caitlin. She grabbed her Star of David and jammed it into Warfield's hand.

Warfield let out a screech of pain. Caitlin slipped out of her grasp and rolled to cover. Warfield finally pulled the Star out of her hand and threw it to the ground.

"Now you're going to get it." sneered Warfield.

Just then, a particular figure ran out of cover.

"Carl?" asked Liam.

"Wizard, on!" he called. A light blue electrical bolt shot from his mask and created a small fire around Warfield.

The fire started to close in on her. Warfield could only let out a terrified shriek before the fire consumed her.

The agents gathered around and looked at the pile of ash that used to be an adversary.

"Whoa." said Brad.

"Warfield...gone?" said Julio.

"Carl?" asked Gloria.

"When you changed all those people back into people," said Carl "I could not believe what I was seeing. I have never been so thankful to be proven wrong. Perhaps if there are more of my tribesmen out there, I can fix them. For now, I have a friend who needs help. He has a sister. You know as well as I do she's one of them."

And with that, he left.

"What an odd, odd man." said Elizabeth.

Laura let out a moan.

"It's Laura!" said Max. "She's coming around!"

Laura stirred a little more, then bolted upright and gasped. She took a few deep breaths and laughed. "Finally!" she said. "Finally, I'm free of that living nightmare!"

"Sounds grown up now." said Bruce.

"Are you okay?" asked Max.

"Better than that!" said Laura. "Every day since I was bitten, I was hoping I would wake up. That it was all a dream. And everyday I was sorely disappointed."

"Sorry to have put you through all that." said Elizabeth.

Laura looked at her and cringed. "Oh, I wonder if they'll take me back at UCLA." she said. "Oh no, my parents! Do they know what happened to me? Oh, did someone tell them?"

"Yeah, this is gonna go on all night." said Enzo.


	7. Epilogue

MASK: Fangs 

Epilogue

Three days later, Julio checked out Max in the hospital. "Well, it appears you are alive, physically fit, and one hundred percent human." said Julio.

"Thanks, Julio." said Max. "That's really good to know."

"I hereby give you permission to leave the room." said Julio.

Max got up to leave. "Hey, what happened to Laura and Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Elizabeth took off as soon as we let her leave." said Julio. "Laura is just down the hall."

"Thanks." said Max.

He walked out of the room in his hospital gown. On his way to Laura's room, he passed the one occupied by Brad and Dusty.

"Yeah, I know it was kind of a cliche for the rock star to become a vampire." said Brad. "Wasn't exactly my choice though."

"I can't wait to reopen the pizza place." said Dusty. "Ah, what a relief it is to smell garlic again without gagging."

"Eh, you actually won't be REopening it." said Enzo.

"Yeah, Enzo's been running the place in your absence." said Buddie.

"How's his cooking?" asked Dusty.

"You should hire him full time." said Buddie. "Just watch out for that pesto sauce."

Meanwhile, Max found Laura's room. She was sitting in bed reading a novel.

"Hey." said Max. "Nice to see you back among the living."

"Thanks." said Laura as she lowered the novel. "You really took a risk for me back there."

"Your skin tone hasn't picked up that much for some reason." said Max.

"I'm a redhead." said Laura. "This is as good as it gets."

"How much do you remember from your undead phase?" asked Max.

"All too much." said Laura. "It was like a movie I was watching, but not being able to pause or rewind."

"And one you never want to see again, right?" asked Max.

"Even more than 'Disturbing Behavior'." said Laura.

"Do you need help with that?" asked Max.

"Please." said Laura. "Help me, Max. I don't want to repeat the last three years."

"I promise." said Max.

As he held her tightly, Matt and Alex met with Julie down the hall. She too was in a bed.

"So, what's the prognosis?" she asked.

"You'll be fine." said Alex. "Apparently, that guy's mask was only designed for temporarily stunning people."

"I think you'll be back on the job within a week or so." said Matt.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Julie.

"The vampire war." said Matt. "We've just had a major turning point. We can cure vampirism now. Michael and Bruce are already working on duplicating the ray to help vampires around the world."

"On top of that, Warfield has been taken out of the equation." said Alex.

"Wow." said Julie. "That sounds like a lot."

"Liam is mostly to thank for this." said Alex. "Tony as well. They really risked their lives on that trip to Ireland. Also that VENOM agent. And Declan."

"They deserve a reward." said Julie.

"Tony didn't ask for one." said Matt. "Liam's was getting his cousin back. We don't even know the name of the VENOM agent. As for Declan..."

----------

Hondo and Liam showed Declan the Minx. The car was painted black metallic with silver sides. The roof was three inches lower. The bumpers, door handles, grill, and trim were fully chromed. The wheels were mounted with Wolfrace Asia-Tec Shogun rims. The hood had been opened to show off a two liter engine from a Dodge Neon.

"Not bad." said Declan. "Thanks for giving me the best-looking Minx in the British isles."

"The keys are in the ignition." said Liam.

Elizabeth watched them from a distance while sitting on the Nightbird. Her skin tone had completely returned as well. She gave herself a quick look in the mirror, put on her helmet, and rode off.

----------

"Well, Darwood." said Mayhem. "Looks like we just performed a major victory."

"Yes, but with the assistance of MASK." said Darwood.

"We'll take it." said Dagger.

"We also sustained major losses." said Weller. "Cassidy is MIA. So is her brother. Carl is missing as well."

"Other than that, we are sitting pretty." said Kelly. "I think I can handle this job now. I don't fear the vampires like I used to."

"Believe it or not, we have MASK to thank for that." said Gilford.

"Not just the cure." said Kelly. "I found myself doing all kinds of tasks I would never have done before. I wonder if this is that courage I've heard so much about."

"I was thinking." said Bates. "Whatever happened to our missing agents?"

----------

The Zombie drove up to a house outside of Flagstaff that night. Calvin climbed out of the passenger seat.

"This is our next lead." said Carl. "This should be where you find your sister."

"Thanks for the lift." said Calvin. "Come back in an hour in case this doesn't pan out."

"If that is the case, I shall return." said Carl.

Calvin walked up to the house and kicked in the door. The place was very disheveled. He made his way to the basement door. He pushed it open and descended the stairs.

"Cassidy?" he asked. "Cass?"

"Calvin, is that you?" came the response.

Calvin entered the room and found Cassidy sitting on a bench with her mask off. Moonlight shone through the windows and illuminated the room.

"Are you alright?" asked Calvin.

"I think so." said Cassidy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Riley's forces are toast. Warfield's history." said Calvin. "Do you need help?"

"Not really." said Cassidy as she stood up.

Calvin was shocked to see her skin had turned pale and a pair of fangs extended from her upper jaw. "No." he moaned.

"Relax, I'm not thirsty." she said. "Especially for you. Now, let me get this straight. You said that Warfield is dead?"

"Um, yeah?" said Calvin nervously.

"Well then." said Cassidy. "Looks like there's a new queen of the night." She laughed mischievously while Calvin cowered.

**THE END?**

AN:And so we conclude "Fangs". I hope I was able to provide a worthwhile reading experience.  
If you're wondering about the question mark, I was thinking of doing a sequel next year. I'm waiting to see how the response to this pans out. Do you think a sequel is in order?  
Thank you for reading and Happy Halloween.


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